Testamentary trusts and capricious testators

Abstract

Abstract The notion that a trust may fail because it serves no useful purpose, or reflects merely the whim or fancy of the testator, seems to fly in the face of testamentary freedom and, in particular, the testator’s right to dispose of his estate in whatever manner he chooses subject only to the court’s control over illegal or immoral conditions and the making of reasonable financial provision for his family and dependants. So how have the courts grappled with these two competing aspects of public policy? The tension between these two competing aspects of public policy forms the subject matter of this article.