Question

Justification for the resulting trust - total or partial failure of express trust - retention of beneficial interest

Answer 1

A resulting trust occurs when an express trust fails, either totally or partially, causing the property to revert to the settlor or pass to the intended beneficiary.

Principles of justice in acquisition and transfer dictate who is entitled to property holdings. The settlor may retain a beneficial interest in the case of a resulting trust.

Step-by-step explanation:

The subject in question concerns a situation in law where a resulting trust may occur due to a total or partial failure of an express trust.

A resulting trust arises when the intention to create an express trust fails, and the property that was supposed to be held in trust reverts back to the settlor or their estate, or in some cases, passes to the settlor's intended beneficiary.

This could be due to a variety of reasons, including unclear language, failure to name a beneficiary properly, or because the purposes of the trust are deemed unlawful or impossible to fulfill.

The principles mentioned refer to a theoretical framework for property entitlement:

1. A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the Principle of Justice in acquisition is entitled to that holding.
2. A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the Principle of Justice in transfer, from someone else entitled to the holding, is entitled to the holding.
3. No one is entitled to a holding except by (repeated) applications of (1) and (2).

When express trusts fail, if the settlor retains a beneficial interest, it implies that they can still benefit from the property as a beneficiary under the resulting trust. The law seeks to honor the initial intentions of the property transfer as closely as possible, which sometimes results in holding the property on a resulting trust for the person who initially contributed the property.