NZ Law Commission--proposal for trust reform

Abstract

The New Zealand Law Commission, after a long deliberation, has released its proposals for the reform of New Zealand's Trust law. This is not the last word, as submissions were invited to those proposals, and the Commission's final recommendations are expected in the next few weeks. The summary below represents the proposals of the Commission, not its final report or recommendations. 1. ‘Trust’ will become a defined term in the new legislation. The core concepts employed in the definition are the ‘enforcer principle’ of Morice v Bishop of Durham and the ‘three certainties’ outlined in Knight v Knight. 2. Trustee duties will be divided into three categories: The mandatory conduct duties will be: 3. There needs to be some clarity as to the Commission’s proposals concerning the permissible scope of limitation or exemption of trustee liability clauses in trusts. This...