What happens when trustees can’t agree?

Whilst it is uncommon for trust and estate practitioners to be faced with a situation where the trustees cannot agree between themselves, it does occasionally happen. Trustees are usually required to act unanimously and are expected to do so without the Court’s assistance.

Geoffrey Kertesz, partner and Lavinia Randall, associate in BDB Pitmans’ litigation team, discuss this at length in an article for eprivateclient, explaining:

‘The courts have a general supervisory jurisdiction over trusts, they are generally unwilling to make decisions for trustees and might instead, for example, direct them to consider particular issues, to obtain valuations or expert advice, or to follow a particular procedure in their decision making. However, in rare cases, trustees simply cannot reach a decision and surrender their discretion to the court. This is what happened in A v B and C and others.’

The full article is available to subscribers of eprivateclient, here.