No Grand View—New Zealand Supreme Court holds that appointment of beneficiary-controlled corporate trustee is authorised: Legler v Formannoij [2024] NZSC 173

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Abstract In Legler v Formannoij, New Zealand’s Supreme Court held that the appointment of a sole corporate trustee controlled by a beneficiary was authorised by the trust deed.1 In so doing, the majority took a narrow view of the appeal, holding that the appellants had failed to prove that the appointment was subjectively intended to benefit one beneficiary at the expense of the other beneficiaries. In a forceful dissent, however, Winkelmann CJ took a broader view, concluding that the appointment was neither authorised by the trust deed nor exercised for a proper purpose.