• March 28, 2024
 Law Commission to “identify areas of trust law that would benefit from modernisation”

Law Commission to “identify areas of trust law that would benefit from modernisation”

The Law Commission is set to identify areas of trust law which would benefit from modernisation.

Part of a project scheduled to last up to 18 months, the aim of scoping current trust law is to find areas which could feature in a larger reform programme, in a bid to enhance its position on a global level.

At the end of last year, the Law Commission announced that trust law would be among its projects to be explored as part of its 13th programme of reform; this was along with 13 other areas including chancel repair liability and regulations surrounding leaseholds.  For its 13th programme, it stated that the focus was firmly on changes which will reduce unfairness for citizens, as well as those which will help to improve the UK’s competitiveness on an international basis.

The report highlights that trust law has not been reviewed comprehensively since 1925, contrasting to other jurisdictions such as New Zealand and Scotland.

Whilst the project will not make proposals in regard to trust taxation as HM Treasury holds responsibility for this, it will include looking at alternative trust-like structures which are not currently available in England and Wales.

Commenting on the upcoming reform project was Professor Nicholas Hopkins. The Law Commissioner for property family and trust law said: “It’s designed as a 12-18 month scoping project, in the first instance, to identify areas of trust law that would benefit from modernisation to ensure that English law remains competitive on the global stage. The hope is that the scoping stage will identify areas that could be taken forward as law reform project(s).”

Also sharing her thoughts on the reform programme was Charlotte Ponder, Legal Director of Countrywide Tax & Trust Corporation Ltd. She stated: “As with all these things, the devil is in the detail. A consideration of other Trust-like structures with a view to utilising them in England & Wales is a worthwhile exercise, but I can’t help but feel that there are other far more pressing areas that could do with the attention of the Law Commission and are in dramatic need of modernisation. If as part of the consultation they do look at the use of electronic signature on Trusts for example, then I would welcome their attention to this area, but it’s not clear how wide the scope of ‘modernisation’ actually is. I look forward to hearing more!”

Georgia Owen

Georgia is the Senior Content Executive and will be your primary contact when submitting your latest news. While studying for an LLB at the University of Liverpool, Georgia gained experience working within retail, as well as social media management. She later went on to work for a local newspaper, before starting at Today’s Wills and Probate.