Declaration of self as trustee
The Three certainties must be fulfilled
Formalities must be fulfilled
Land - LPA 1925, s. 53(1)(b)
(1)Subject to the provision hereinafter contained with respect to the creation of interests in land by parol—
(b)a declaration of trust respecting any land or any interest therein must be manifested and proved by some writing signed by some person who is able to declare such trust or by his will;
There must be a clear declaration of self as trustee
Equitable interest - LPA 1925 s. 53 (1)(c))
(1)Subject to the provision hereinafter contained with respect to the creation of interests in land by parol—
(c)a disposition of an equitable interest or trust subsisting at the time of the disposition, must be in writing signed by the person disposing of the same, or by his agent thereunto lawfully authorised in writing or by will.
Paul v. Constance [1977] 1 WLR 527
Jones v. Lock (1865) 1 Ch App 25
Facts
Put check away in his desk and died shortly after before cashing it
Court faced with question of whether the father had made a gift, problematic as child never touched the check,
Court looked to see whether father had declared a trust over the check for the child
Held
When self-declaring as a trustee there must a be clear and unambiguous intention evidence that you intend to just transfer the beneficial title, and retaining legal title for benefit of beneficiary
Facts
Father who got a check dangled it over babies cot and said its for baby and him alone
Court held that there was no trust as court does not find a perfect trust to perfect an imperfect gift
Held
Facts: Mr Constance left his wife to live with his mistress, Mrs Paul. Constance received a court award of £950 for an injury suffered at work, subsequently to which Constance and Paul decided to set up a joint bank account. After visiting the bank, they were advised that the account should be set up in the name of Constance alone because the couple were not married: therefore, Constance was the common law owner of the account
The £950 lump sum was paid into the account and formed bulk of the money held in it. The couple also added joint bingo winnings to the account, and used some for the money to pay for a joint holiday. Importantly, evidence was also adduced at trial that Constance had said to Paul “this money is as much yours as mine”
Constance died, and his wife sought to claim that the bank account belonged entirely to her deceased husband and that it therefore passed to her as his widow under the Intestacy rules. Mrs Paul, However, argued that the money was held on trust by Constance, as legal owner of the bank account, for both Constance and Paul as beneficiaries; therefore, she argued, the bank account should pass to her as sole surviving beneficiary
Constance had declared a trust over the money in the bank account → the reasoning was that the words “the money is as much yours as mine” manifested sufficient intention that Constance would hold the property on trust for them both
Furthermore, that the couple had treated the money in the account as joint money was taken to be evidence of the intention to create a trust
Milroy v Lord (1862) 4 De GF & J 264
- Declaring oneself as trustee of property over which one is legal owner
A trust will only come into existence if the property intended to be held on trust is vested in the trustee. The combination of declaring a trust and transferring property into it is known as constituting the trust. If these two steps are completed, the trust is described as completely constituted. If there was a declaration of trust, but no effective transfer, the trust relationship will not have come into being, and the trust is described as incompletely constituted.