In the recent case of In The Matter of The Representation of
RBC Trust Company (Jersey) Limited And In The Matter of The B Life
Interest (2012) JRC 229, the Royal Court of Jersey has again
considered whether the doctrine of mistake can apply to voluntary
dispositions made by a trustee.
The Court confirmed that Jersey law has diverged from English law
on the question of whether a voluntary disposition made by a
settlor can be set aside. For more information on that issue,
please click
here to see DQ's previous article on the S Trust
case
However, the Jersey Court confirmed in cases of trustee mistake
that Jersey law will follow English law and the reformulation of
the Hastings-Bass principle, as set out in the case of Pitt
v Holt.
The cases of Pitt v Holt and Futter v Futter were heard by the
English Supreme Court on 12 March 2013 and we currently await that
judgment to see how this interesting area of trust law will
develop.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.