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Beneficiary (trust) - Beneficiary or Cestui Que Trust The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United Kingdom and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. In trust law, a beneficiary or cestui que use, a.k.a. cestui que trust, is the person or persons who are entitled to the benefit of any trust arrangement. A beneficiary will normally be a natural person, but it is perfectly possible to have a company as the beneficiary of a trust, and this often happens in sophisticated commercial transaction structures.[1] With the exception of charitable trusts, and some specific anomalous non-charitable purpose trusts, all trusts are required to have ascertainable beneficiaries. Generally speaking, there are no strictures as to who may be a beneficiary of a trust; a beneficiary can be a minor, or under a mental disability (in fact many trusts are created specifically for persons with those legal disadvantages). It is also possible to have trusts for unborn children, although the trusts must vest within the applicable perpetuity period. A Cestui Que trust of this nature is set up by the government when the birth of a baby is registered. On registration, the baby becomes a 'person', 'child' or legal fiction in the eyes of the law. The number on the back (or front) of the birth certificate is the account number or bond tracking number. This trust is held by the government and is given value based on the potential future commercial activity of that 'person'. Although the trust is set up by the government, and is held in trust by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it is perfectly possible for the named 'person' linked to the bond tracking number to relinquish his legal fiction and become a human being or 'freeman-on-
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Page 1: Cestui Que Vie Trust

Beneficiary (trust) - Beneficiary or Cestui Que Trust

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United Kingdom and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

In trust law, a beneficiary or cestui que use, a.k.a. cestui que trust, is the person or persons who are entitled to the benefit of any trust arrangement. A beneficiary will normally be a natural person, but it is perfectly possible to have a company as the beneficiary of a trust, and this often happens in sophisticated commercial transaction structures.[1] With the exception of charitable trusts, and some specific anomalous non-charitable purpose trusts, all trusts are required to have ascertainable beneficiaries.

Generally speaking, there are no strictures as to who may be a beneficiary of a trust; a beneficiary can be a minor, or under a mental disability (in fact many trusts are created specifically for persons with those legal disadvantages). It is also possible to have trusts for unborn children, although the trusts must vest within the applicable perpetuity period.

A Cestui Que trust of this nature is set up by the government when the birth of a baby is registered. On registration, the baby becomes a 'person', 'child' or legal fiction in the eyes of the law. The number on the back (or front) of the birth certificate is the account number or bond tracking number. This trust is held by the government and is given value based on the potential future commercial activity of that 'person'. Although the trust is set up by the government, and is held in trust by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it is perfectly possible for the named 'person' linked to the bond tracking number to relinquish his legal fiction and become a human being or 'freeman-on-the-land' at which point he can demand access to the funds contained within.

Categorisation

There are various ways in which beneficiaries of trusts can be categorised, depending upon the nature and need of the categorisation.

From the perspective of the trustees' duties, it is most common to differentiate between:

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* fixed beneficiaries, who have a simple fixed entitlement to income and capital; and

* discretionary beneficiaries, whom the trustees must make decisions as to the respective entitlements.

Where a trust gives rise to sequential interests, from a tax perspective (and also from the point of view of trustee's duties), it is often necessary to differentiate beneficiaries sequentially, between:

* those with a vested interest, such as tenants for life; and

* those with a contingent interest, such as remaindermen

For the purposes of various exercise of beneficiaries' rights, it is often necessary to distinguish between:

* beneficiaries under a bare trust (including a constructive or resulting trust), to whom the trustee owes basic duties arising by law; and

* beneficiaries under an express trust (either an inter vivos trust or a testamentary trust), where the trustee owes additional duties and has additional powers specified by the trust instrument.

Rights and interest

The nature of a beneficiaries' interest in the trust fund varies according to the type of trust.

In the case of a fixed trust, the beneficiaries' interest is proprietary; they are the owners of an equitable interest in the property held under the trust.

The position is slightly different in the case of a discretionary trust; in such cases the beneficiaries are dependent upon the exercise by the trustees of their powers under the trust instrument in their favour.[2]

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Similarly, where a trust gives rise to successive interest, the title of a remainderman is a prospective, or contingent, interest; although unlike a discretionary beneficiary, this is still a species of property that can be dealt with, much in the same was as a contingent or prospective debt.

Taxation

Main article: Taxation of trusts

Tax planning usually plays a considerable role in relating to the use of trusts.[3]

Historically, whilst the courts have been fairly amenable to the use of trusts in tax planning,[4] as tax planning schemes have become more aggressive, so the courts have increasingly taken a restrictive view of the tax treatment of trusts.

Although individual countries tend to have very detailed rules about the taxation of trusts, the three mechanisms whereby taxation is usually assessed is by either treating (i) the trust as a separately taxable entity in its own right, (ii) treating the trust property as still the property of the settlor, and (iii) treating the trust property as belonging absolutely to the beneficiaries. Some jurisdictions apply different combinations of the rules in income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax.

Beneficiaries' powers

Because an interest under a trust is a species of property, adult beneficiaries of sound mind are able to deal with their rights under the trust fund as they could with any other species of property. They can sell it, assign it, exchange it, release it,[5] mortgage it, and do most other things that they could do with a chose in action.

If all of the beneficiaries of the trust are adults and of sound mind, then they can terminate the trust under the rule in Saunders v Vautier, and require the trustees to transfer absolute legal title to the trust assets to the beneficiaries.

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See also

* Beneficiary (general): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beneficiary

* Trust law: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_law

* Trustee: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trustee

* Settlor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settlor

* Cestui que: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cestui_que

Footnotes

1. ^ See for example Quistclose trusts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quistclose_trust and orphan structures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_structure both of which commonly involve non-human beneficiaries of trusts.

2. ^ In Gartside v IRC [1968] AC 553 it was argued that because a beneficiary might receive all the income, he should be treated as being entitled to all of the income, however, the House of Lords http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_functions_of_the_House_of_Lords held that it could not be said that any individual beneficiary under a discretionary trust was entitled to any quantifiable share

3. ^ Although it is not the only role. Trusts have a variety of uses outside of the tax sphere, notably for protecting minor and disabled beneficiaries. Although because the tax treatment of trusts is usually complex in most countries, even when the trust is being used for non-tax related purposes, tax planning considerations often come into play.

4. ^ In IRC v Duke of Westminster [1936] AC 1 the House of Lords asserted "Every man is entitled to do what he can to order his affairs sothat the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be" at page 19.

5. ^ Where the trust is a discretionary trust, the beneficiary may renounce his position as a class member; see Re Gulbenkian's Settlement (No 2) [1970] Ch 408

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Cestui Que - From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cestui

Cestui que, Cestuy que, is an Anglo-French phrase of medieval English invention, which appears in the legal phrases cestui que trust, cestui que use, or cestui que vie. It is commonly pronounced as "Setty-Kay" or "Sesty-Kay". According to Roebuck, "Cestui que use" is pronounced "setticky yuce".[1] Cestui que use and cestui que trust are more or less interchangeable terms. Cestui que is a shortened version of "cestui a que use le feoffment fuit fait," literally, "The person for whose use the feoffment was made." In some medieval literature, the phrase is seen as cestui a que.

The "cestui que use" is the person for whose benefit the trust is created. The "cestui que trust" is the person entitled to the equitable, as opposed to the legal, estate. Thus, if land is granted to the use of A. in trust for B., B. is cestui que trust, and A. trustee, or use. The cestui que use and trust were rooted in medieval law, and became a legal method to avoid the feudal (medieval) incidents (payments) to an overlord, while leaving the land for the use of another, who owed nothing to the lord. The law of cestui que tended to defer jurisdiction to courts of equity as opposed to common law courts. The cestui que was often utilized by persons who might be absent from the kingdom for an extended time (as on a Crusade, or a business adventure), and who held tenancy to the land, and owed feudal incidents to a lord. The land could be left for the use of a third party, who did not owe the incidents to the lord.

This legal status was also invented to circumvent the Statute of Mortmain. That statute was intended to end the relatively common practice of leaving real property to the Church at the time of the owner's death. Since the Church never died, the land never left the "dead hand" ("Mortmain" or Church). Before the Statute of Mortmain, large amounts of land were bequethed to the Church, which never relinquished it. This was in contradistinction to normal lands which could be inherited in a family line or revert to a lord or the Crown upon death of the tenant. Church land had been a source of contention between the Crown and the Church for centuries. Cestui que use allowed religious orders to inhabit land, while the title resided with a corporation of lawyers or other entities, who nominally had no relation to the Church. The term, principally owing to its cumbersome nature, has been virtually superseded in modern law by that of "beneficiary", and general law of trusts.

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History of cestui que in German and Roman Law

It is the opinion of William Holdsworth[2] quoting such scholars as Gilbert, Sanders, Blackstone, Spence and Digby, that cestui que in English law had a Roman origin. An analogy exists between cestuique uses and a usufructus (usufruct) or the bequest of a fideicommissum. These all tended to create a feoffement to one person for the use of another. Gilbert[3] writes, (also seen in Blackstone)[4]: "that they answer more to the fideicommissum than the usufructus of the civil law." These were transplanted into England from Roman Civil Law about the close of the reign of Edward III of England by means of foreign ecclesiastics who introduced them to evade the Statute of Mortmain. Others argue that the comparison between cestui que and Roman law is merely superficial. The transfer of land for the use of one person for certain purposes to be carried out either in the lifetime or after the death of the person conveying it has its basis in Germanic law. It was popularly held that land could be transferred for the use from one person to another in local custom. The formal English or Saxon law didn't always recognize this custom. The practice was called Salman or Treuhand. "Sala" is German for "transfer".[5] It is related to the Old English "sellen", "to sell".

The earliest appearance of cestui que in the medieval period was the feoffee to uses, which like the Salman, held on account of another. This was called the cestui que use. It was because the feoffor could impose on him many various duties that landowners acquired through his instrumentality the power to do many things with their land. This was a to avoid the rigidity of medieval common law of land and its uses. Germanic law was familiar with the idea that a man who holds property on account of, or to the use of another is bound to fulfill his trust. Frankish formulas from the Merovingian period describe property given to a church "ad opus sancti illius." Mercian books in the ninth century convey land "ad opus monachorum". The Domesday Book refers to geld or money, sac and soc held in "ad opus regus", or in "reginae" or "vicecomitis". The laws of William I of England speak of the sheriff holding money "al os le rei" ("for the use of the king"). [6] [7]

Others state that the cestui que use trust was the product of Roman Law. In England it was the invention of ecclesiastics who wanted to escape the Statute of Mortmain. The goal was to obtain a conveyance of an estate to a friendly person or corporation, with the intent that the use of the estate would reside with the original owner. [8] [9][10]

Pollock and Maitland describe cestui que use as the first step toward the law of agency.[11] They note that the word "use" as it was employed in medieval English law was not from the Latin "usus", but rather from the Latin word "opus", meaning "work". From this came the Old French words "os" or "oes". [12] Although with time the Latin document for conveying land to the use of John would be written "ad

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opus Johannis" which was interchageable with "ad usum Johannis", or the fuller formula, "ad opus et ad usum", the earliest history suggests the term "use" evolved from "ad opus".[13]

Medieval invention of cestui que

Cistercian Buckland Abbey, established on land near Yelverton, Devon donated by Amicia, Countess of Devon in 1278

Many reasons have been given for the invention of the cestui que use as a legal device. During the Crusades, and other wars on the Continent, landowners might be gone for long periods of time. Others might be absent because of business adventures or religious pilgrimages. There was no assurance they would ever return home. The cestui que use allowed them to leave a trusted friend or relative with the sort of powers, discretions and they hoped, the duties. Today, this power would be called the "power of attorney". Religious orders such as Franciscans, Cistercians, Benedictines and other mendicant orders took vows of poverty, yet retained the use of donated property. Cestui que use allowed them the benefits of land without legal ownership. [14] [15]

Besides the obvious limitations placed on cestui que by the Statute of Mortmain, Statute of Uses and the Statute of Wills, its legality was shaped indirectly by provisions within the Magna Carta and Quia Emptores.

Typical medieval patterns of cestui que

Derek Roebuck[16] has given the following typical fact patterns which were often found in medieval cestui que use:

Example 1: Albert is the owner of a landholding called Blackacre. He conveys this to Richard with the command that Richard hold the land with the duty not for Richard's benefit, but for a different purpose. This could be to do a job, such as collect rents and profits for the purpose of passing them to a third person, Lucy. This was nothing more than a clever legal device with Richard playing either an active or passive role.

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Example 2: If Jane (women could engage in cestui que use), granted Blackacre to Charles to the use of David, then David became the beneficial owner and Jane could not vary or detract from that ownership.

Example 3: If Mary wanted to grant Blackacre away from her direct heir James, to her younger son Jasper, then she might well do so by a grant of Richard to the use of Jasper in tail, remainder to James in fee simple. Only Richard had a legal estate, the interests of Jasper and James being equitable analogues of a legal fee tail and fee simple in remainder.

Example 4: If Mary wanted to make a will of the equitable ownership of Blackacre, she would be able to do so by a grant to Richard to the use of herself, Mary. The ownership of Blackacre did not pass on Mary's death to her heir but went to wherever she might will it. By this method, Mary could keep her wishes secret until her death when her will would be read, and would prevail. This was a way to defeat primogeniture inheritance.

Example 5: Uses were so common by the middle of the fifteenth century that they were presumed to be in existence even if no intention could be proved. If Martin granted Blackacre to Martha, and she could show no consideration (that is, that she paid for it), then Martha would be considered in equity to be the feoffee to unspecified uses to be announced at Martin's discretion. If Martin sold Blackacre to Martha, but did not go through the formal routines of feoffment to complete the conveyance, Martha could not become the legal owner. But in equity, Martin held the land to the cestui que use of Martha. It would have been unconscionable for him to do otherwise having taken her money for the sale of Blackacre.

Example 6: Albert might convey Blackacre to Richard for the use of Jane. In this case, Richard was called the "feoffee of uses". Jane was the "cestui que use". This was short for "cestui a qui use le feoffment fuit fait", i.e. "The person to whose use the feoffment was made." This device separated legal from beneficial ownership.

Cestui que as a method of fraud

From the Doctor and Student (1518) [17] "It will be somewhat long and peradventure somewhat tedious to show all the causes particularly." By the fifteenth century, cestui que use was a vehicle to defraud creditors. The main use was to leave land, or parts of land to members of the family other than the primary heir. This was a way to avoid primogeniture inheritance. While the use was intact, the occupant

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of the land could take advantage of the cestui que use to avoid the feudal payments and duties (incidents). Incidents such as wardship, marriage penalties and other gifts, taxes, fines, fees, and knight service were onerous. Common law did not recognize cestui que uses as such, and there was difficulty fitting these cases into the existing writs and case law. The incidents could not be enforced against a person who was on a Crusade, or other war, or business adventure. They were not present in the kingdom to be enforced to perform. Since the feudal oath was to the person, and not the land, there could be no lien against the land. A hallmark of medieval feudalism was the person to person oath of allegiance. The feudal incidents could not be enforced upon the beneficiaries of the cestui que use, since these were not the owners of the land. The users had not sworn an oath to the lord. Therefore, they owed the lord nothing. The cestui que use had no estate. They had no seisin, nor a trespass, and therefore, ejectment could not be effected. These required possession. Assumpsit was of no avail. In 1402, the Commons had petitioned the king for a remedy against dishonest feoffees to uses, apparently with no result. Cestui que use became a new kind of property and property use. [18]

Henry VII and cestui que

Concerted efforts were made under Henry VII of England to reform cestui que. A change in the laws made feoffees the absolute owners of the property of which they had been enfeoffed, and they became subject to all the liabilities of ownership. They were the only ones who could take proceedings against those who interferred with their ownership. If a trespass had been committed with the license of the cestui que use they could take proceedings against him, for he was at law only a tenant at sufferance. Similarly, feoffees were the only ones who could take the proceedings against tenants of the land to compel them to perform their obligations. [19][20] [21][22]

If a debt was brought for rent by a cestui que use, and the defendant pleaded "nihil habuit tempore dimissions", the plaintiff would have lost his action if he had not made a special replication setting out the facts. [23]

The purpose of these changes was to make cestui que in general, and cestui que use trusts more cumbersome and economically unattractive.

Henry VIII and cestui que

St. Mary's Abbey, York, a Benedictine monastery dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539

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Henry VIII sought to end all cestui que uses and regain the incidents (fees and payments) that had been deprived him. Thomas Cromwell and Audley who succeeded Thomas More vigorously crushed cestui que uses in the courts, persuading judges to declare them illegal or void. [24] By 1538-39, over 800 religious land holdings had been returned to the Crown. Many of these were subsequently sold, converted to private dwellings, given to loyal supporters of the English Reformation, dismantled for building materials, or abandoned and allowed degenerate into ruins. Claims of religious corruption were frequently used to justify reclamation by the Crown. Since many of these religious orders provided charity, much of the local medical and social services were left in disarray. (see: Dissolution of the Monasteries, List of monasteries dissolved by Henry VIII of England)

[Statute of Uses

The Statute of Uses was enacted in 1535, and was intended to end the abuses which had incurred in cestui que use. It declared that any holder of a cestui que use became the holder of the legal title of the ownership in fee simple. This voided the advantages of a cestui que use. The feoffee to uses was bypassed. The cestui que use had seisin. Henry VIII of England got his incidences back. The land owner lost the ability to will the land to heirs other than those in direct lineage. There could be no bypassing of heirs with a cestui que. This condition was modified in the Statute of Wills (1540). One of the effects of the Statute of Uses in executing the use, was to make a mere sale of land without feoffment (the formal public transfer) effective to pass the legal estate. The buyer became the owner by operation of the statute. It necessitated a public announcement of the intended sale to determine if the land had been surreptitiously sold to someone else. The Statute of Uses required a public registry of sale of land, later called the Statute of Enrollments. [25]

Lawyers quickly determined that adding the words to a conveyance "land to Leonard and his heirs, to the use of John and his heirs, to the use of Kenneth and his heirs." For a time, this device defeated the intent of the Statute of Uses.

Lord Hardwicke wrote that the Statute had no real effect other than to add, at most three words, to a conveyance. He was referring to the doctrine that had become settled before his time: that the old use might still be effected despite the Statute, by a "use on a use". [26] The Statute of Uses had been considered a great failure. It did not wipe out double ownership, legal and equitable, which has survived into the modern system of trusts. The preamble of the Statute went far in enumerating the abuses the system of uses had brought into play. The Statute did not, as had previously been suggested, try to remedy these abuses by declaring any uses void. It merely declared that the possession should be

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transferred to the use and that the cestui que use should have the possession after such manner and form as he had before the use.[27][28]

In Re Chudleigh's Case

In Re Chudleigh's Case was the first application of the Statute of Uses, and occurred fifty years after its enactment. This case was argued several times in front of several courts in England. It has been described as a judicial scrutiny of "use on a use". [29] Francis Bacon argued for the defense. The case is replete with desultory and curious discussion which, in the opinion of Lord Hardwicke, is difficult to understand. The disposition and policy of the judges was to check contingent uses, which they deemed to be productive of mischiefs and tending to perpetuities. They regarded the Statute of Uses as intending to extirpate uses, which were often found to be subtle and fraudulent contrivances. Their evident object was to restore the simplicity and integrity of the common law. [30]

The great controversy in Chudleigh's case was whether the Statute of Uses had reduced the feoffee to uses to a mere conduit pipe through which possession passed to the cestui que use, or whether he still retained some of the old powers he had before the Statute of Uses. What the majority judges sought in the case was just what the projectors of the present property reform in England were after, the free alienability of land. Chudleigh's Case became known as the Case of Perpetuities. The case turned on the doctrine of scintilla juris which Bacon called metaphysics of the worst kind. Scintilla juris (Latin: a spark of right), is a legal fiction allowing feoffees to uses to support contingent uses when they come into existence, thereby to enable the Statute of Uses to execute them. [31][32] Chudleigh's Case represented the turning point of the old medieval common law of cestui que uses, and the trend toward modernity. Bacon suggested that Justice Coke had "ripped uses from their cradle." [33]

United States cases of cestui que

Town of Pawlet v. Clark (1815)

In the 1815 case of Town of Pawlet v. Clark[34] the United States Supreme Court found that a Royal grant of land to the Church of England in the colony of New Hampshire was not completed. The grant had been made prior to the American Revolutionary War, and the State of Vermont, as successor to the English Crown, could claim the land and convey it to the town of Pawlet for schools. The cestui que

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nature of the trust which held the land was found to be void. The Episcopal Church in the town had no right or title to the land.

Terrett v. Taylor (1815)

In the 1815 case of Terrett v. Taylor,[35] the United States Supreme Court found that the State of Virginia could not expropriate property of the formerly established Episcopal Church or abolish its incorporation. At issue was a 516-acre (2.09 km2) land grant which was given in deed of bargain and sale on September 18, 1770 by the direction of the then vestry of the church. The land had been conveyed to Townsend Dade and James Wren, both of the county and 44 other church wardens, and to their successors in office in a form of cestui que for the use and benefit of the said church in the said parish.

Society for Propagation of the Gospel v. Town of New Haven (1823)

The 1823 case of Society for the Propagation of the Gospel v. Town of New Haven[36] looked at the issue of lands granted to an English corporate body, the "Society" which had a religious purpose. The land had been granted by George III of England in New Hampshire in 1761. It was held in corporation by a form of cestui que. On October 30, 1794, the State of Vermont passed a statute whereby the land of the Society would be appropriated by the state. The Supreme Court was divided in its opinion. It ruled that the property of English corporations at the time of the Revolution were protected by the Treaty of Peace, 1783. [37] See Treaty of Paris (1783), Treaty of Versailles (1783) There could be no confiscations of such corporate holdings or lands because of the treaty.

Beatty v. Kurtz (1829)

In the 1829 case of Beatty v. Kurtz[38] the United States Supreme Court decided the issue of title in an unincorporated Lutheran Church land. The land had been used as a cemetery. The fact that the land was held by a non-corporation was deficient at law. Nevertheless, equity permitted settlement of the title in the favor of the church organization out of religious sensitivity and sensibility. There should be sentiments for the kindred of the deceased.

Goesele v. Bimeler (1852)

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A group of German separatists settled land in Ohio. The lands were held in community, and there was a renunciation of individual property. All crops and goods were donated to the community. Later the community formally incorporated, using the terms of the previous unincorporated association. The nature of the holding was in the form of a traditional cestui que use. The heirs of a deceased member of the Society of Separatists sued, seeking a portion of the lands held in community. In Goesele v. Bimeler,[39] 1852, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the descendant heirs of the deceased member could not recover.

United States case law of recovery from disseisee in cestui que

In a few American jurisdictions the grantee from one whose land is adversely held is still precluded from maintaining an action in his own name to oust the adverse possessor.[40][41][42] [43] A conveyance of land held adversely to the grantor is champertous and void. The title to the land remains in the grantor and the grantee cannot maintain an action for breach of the covenant in the conveyance. The fact that the transaction was fair and bona fide does not change the rule. [44] It has been said that the common law doctrine is obsolete, not being suitable to conditions and circumstances of the people of this country. [45][46]

Possession by a cestui que trust is not adverse to his trustee, and such possession will not void the latter to be champertous. [47] [48]

United States Rule Against Perpetuities

In the United States the Rule Against Perpetuities, where it is in effect, applies to both legal and equitable interests, created in trust.[49] The Rule Against Perpetuities varies from state to state. The common law rule may be stated, "No interest is good unless it must vest, if at all, not later than twenty-one years after some life in being at the date of the creation of the interest." [50] Vesting indicates a right to an interest in the trust. The rule is directed entirely against remoteness in vesting. An identification of the person whose interest is defined by the trust, must either vest or fail in s specified time. Any interest which may remain contingent beyond the period of the rule is invalid. [51] A beneficiary must be an identifiable person born within the time span of the trust, and vest in it. All interests in a charitable trust, are subject to the rule with a few exceptions. A charitable trust which gives a gift from the first charity to a second charity on a condition precedent is not void by reason of

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the fact tha the condition may not occur without the period of the Rule. (See Example 2 below.) Property transferred from a non-charity and then left over to a second charity on a remote contingency is void. (See Example 3 below.)

Examples of the Rule Against Perpetuities

Example 1: Alex leaves property in trust to Bill to hold for the benefit of Alex's children during their lives and on the death of the last survivor of Alex's children, to distribute the principle to Alex's grandchildren then living. At Alex's death he has three children living, C1, C2 and C3. It is certain that the remainder to the grandchildren will vest at the death of one of the three whose life will span both the time of the creation of the interest (Alex's death) and the vesting interest of the interest (his own death). It is unnecessary to determine whether it will be C1, C2 or C3.[52]

Example 2: Alphonse leaves property to Brandon in a trust to pay the income to St. John's Church, located in Anytown, so long as it conducts its regular services in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer, 1789 Version. If at any time it should discontinue this practice, then the trust income reverts to St. Matthew's Church. This is a valid contingency. [53]

Example 3: Beth leaves property in trust to hold for Mary's children for life and on the death of Mary's last surviving child, the property reverts to Mary's living female grandchildren. If no female grandchild is living, then the property reverts to the Cathedral School for Girls. Mary is living at the time of Beth's death. The gift to the Cathedral School is void. [54]

Example 4: Albert leaves property to Thomas in trust to pay the income to St. Mark's Church so long as it conducts its regular services in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer, 1789 Version. If at any time in the future, it should discontinue to so conduct its services in such a manner, the income passes to Robert, or Robert's heirs then living. The gift over is void because it may remain contingent for a period longer than the Rule Against Perpetuities. It makes no difference that it is preceded by a gift to charity. [55]

Example 5: Martin leaves property to Joseph in trust to hold for the benefit of St. Vincent's Church if it should adopt a new liturgy proposed by the religious convention held in 1970. The gift is void. The contingency may not occur within the period of the Rule. There is no exception for a gift to charity under such circumstances. [56]

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Wait and See Rule

The Wait and See Rule was instituted to eliminate or mitigate the harsh effect of the common law Rule Against Perpetuities. Under this doctrine, the court decides the validity of future estates only at the time the prior estate terminates and then tests whether the interest violates the rule by the events which have actually happened rather than the possibilities existing at the time the interest was created. [57]

Cy Pres Rule

Cy pres doctrine was also instituted to mitigate the harshness of the common law Rule Against Perpetuities. Cy pres means "as near as possible" or "as close as possible". Cy Pres allows the court to reform the interest within the limits of the Rule to approximate most closely the intention of the creator of the interest. Both Wait and See and Cy Pres approaches have been adopted by the American Law Institute as to the traditional Rule Against Perpetuities. [58][59][60]

References

1. ^ Roebuck, Derek,[I wrote 'Cestui que use (pronounced 'setticky yuce') beneficiary' DR] "The Background of the Common Law", Oxford, 1990, Index

2. ^ Holdsworth, W, "A History of English Law", Brown, Little & Co. 1927, pp.410-411

3. ^ Gilbert, ed. 1811

4. ^ Blackstone ii, 327, 328

5. ^ Holdsworth, W. ibid. pp.410-411

6. ^ Legis Wilhelmus I 2 section 3

7. ^ Holdworth, W. ibid. pp. 410-411

8. ^ Bogert, "Law of Trusts", 1921

9. ^ Fletcher, "Corporations, Vol. 9", 1920

10. ^ Loring "Trustee's Handbook, Second Edition", 1900

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11. ^ Pollock and Maitland, "History of English Law, Vol. 2" Cambridge University Press, 1968 p. 228 et seq

12. ^ L. Q. R. iii. 116

13. ^ Pollock and Maitland, ibid.

14. ^ Roebuck, Derek, "The Background of the Common Law, Second Edition", Oxford University Press, 1990, p. 75

15. ^ Holdsworth, W. "A History of English Law", Brown, Little & Co., 1927 p. 410-411

16. ^ Roebuck, Derek, "The Background of the Common Law, Second Edition", Oxford University Press, 1990 pp. 75-80

17. ^ "Doctor and Student", Christopher St. Germaine, 1518

18. ^ Holdsworth, W. ibid. p. 410-411

19. ^ Year Book 10 Henry VII, Pasch. pl. 12

20. ^ Year Book 5 Henry VII, Hil. pl 4

21. ^ S. C. Henry VII, Mich. pl. 18

22. ^ Holdsworth, ibid. p. 427-430

23. ^ Year Book 2 Henry VII Mich pl. 18

24. ^ Re: Lord Decre of the South, 1535

25. ^ Roebuck, Derek, "The Background of the Common Law" Oxford, 1990 p. 78-80

26. ^ Hopkins v. Hopkins, 1 Atk. 580, 591, 1783

27. ^ Holdsworth, ibid. vol. 4 p. 455-456, 578

28. ^ Percy Bordwell, "The Repeal of the Statute of Uses", Harv L. Rev. 39, 466-484, 1926

29. ^ Percy Bordwell, "Seisin and Disseisin", 34 Harv. L. Rev. 592, 599, 1921

30. ^ In Re Chudleigh's Case 1 Co. Rep. 1136, 76 Eng. Rep. 261 K. B. 1594; also reported in 1 Co. 120, 1 Anderson 309

31. ^ 27 Henry VIII

32. ^ 4 Kent's Com. 238 et seq

33. ^ 7 Bacon, 617, 618

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34. ^ Town of Pawlet v. Clark, 13 US (9 Cranch) 292, 1815

35. ^ Terrett v. Taylor, 13 US (9 Cranch) 43, 1815

36. ^ 21 US (* Wheat.) 464, 1832

37. ^ 8 Stat. 83

38. ^ Beatty v. Kurtz, 27 US (2 Pet.) 566, 1829

39. ^ Goesele v. Bimeler, 55 US (14 How.) 589

40. ^ Farrington v. Greer, 94 Fla 457, 113 So 722

41. ^ Meade v. Ruff, 133 Ky 411, 118 SW 271

42. ^ Setterstrom v. Phelan, 182 Okla 453, 78 P 2nd 415

43. ^ 14 Am Jur 2nd "Champerty and Maintenance", section 12

44. ^ Kitchen-Miller Co. v. Kern, 170 Tenn 10, 91 SW 2nd 291

45. ^ Gurule v. Duran, 20 NM 348, 149 P 302

46. ^ 14 AM Jur 2nd "Champerty and Maintenance", section 12

47. ^ Behrens v. Crawford, 32 Ky LR 1281, 108 SW 288

48. ^ 14 Am Jur 2nd "Champerty and Maintenance", section 13

49. ^ Moody, Rossen and Sogg "Smith's Review, Wills, Trusts, Probate, Administration and the Fiduciary, Third Edition", West, 1982, p.174

50. ^ Gray, "Rule Against Perpetuities, Fourth Edition", Little, Brown & Co. Boston, 1942 p. 191

51. ^ Moody, Rossen and Sogg "Smith's Review, Wills, Trusts, Probate, Administration and the Fiduciary, Third Edition", West, 1982, p. 174

52. ^ ibid. p. 174

53. ^ ibid.

54. ^ ibid. p. 175

55. ^ ibid.

56. ^ ibid.

57. ^ Merchant's National Bank v. Curtis, 98 NH, 97 A 2nd 207 (1953)

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58. ^ Restatement, Second, Property sections 104-105 (Tentative Draft No. 2, 1979)

59. ^ Leach, "Perpetuities: The Nutshell Revisited", 78 Harv. L. Rev. 973, 1965

60. ^ Smith's Review, "Real and Personal Property, Conveyancing and Future Interests", Chapter XV

Related Links

* The Blackfriars of Shrewsbury

* Buckland Abbey

* Cestui que use

* Dissolution of the Monasteries

* Edward III of England

* English Reformation

* Francis Bacon

* George III of England

* Henry VII of England

* Henry VIII of England

* List of monasteries dissolved by Henry VIII of England

* Quia Emptores

* Rule Against Perpetuities

* St. Mary's Abbey, York

* Statute of Mortmain

* Statute of Uses

* Statute of Wills

* Treaty of Paris (1783)

* Treaty of Versailles (1783)

Page 19: Cestui Que Vie Trust

* William I of England

UK Cestui Que Vie Act 1666

UK Cestui Que Vie Act 1666, from the UK legislation website.

{Comment:

Apparently, the politicians were passing this legislation into effect while the great fire of london was burning london down

Some claim that "lost at sea" is the same as saying lost on the sea of commerce (as a person engaged on the high seas of commerce)

}

The Act reads as follows:

Cestui Que Vie Act 1666

1666 CHAPTER 11

An Act for Redresse of Inconveniencies by want of Proofe of the Deceases of Persons beyond the Seas or absenting themselves, upon whose Lives Estates doe depend.

Annotations:

Editorial Information

X1 Abbreviations or contractions in the original form of this Act have been expanded into modern lettering

in the text set out above and below.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 Short title “The Cestui que Vie Act 1666” given by Statute Law Revision Act 1948 (c. 62), Sch. 2

C2 Preamble omitted in part under authority of Statute Law Revision Act 1948 (c. 62), Sch. 1

Page 20: Cestui Que Vie Trust

C3 Certain words of enactment repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1888 (c. 3) and remainder omitted under authority of Statute Law Revision Act 1948 (c. 62), s. 3

I.] Cestui que vie remaining beyond Sea for Seven Years together and no Proof of their Lives, Judge in Action to direct a Verdict as though Cestui que vie were dead.

If such person or persons for whose life or lives such Estates have beene or shall be

granted as aforesaid shall remaine beyond the Seas or elsewhere absent themselves in

this Realme by the space of seaven yeares together and noe sufficient and evident proofe

be made of the lives of such person or persons respectively in any Action commenced

for recovery of such Tenements by the Lessors or Reversioners in every such case the

person or persons upon whose life or lives such Estate depended shall be accounted as

naturally dead, And in every Action brought for the recovery of the said Tenements

by the Lessors or Reversioners their Heires or Assignes, the Judges before whom such

Action shall be brought shall direct the Jury to give their Verdict as if the person soe

remaining beyond the Seas or otherwise absenting himselfe were dead.

II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1

2 Cestui Que Vie Act 1666 (c. 11)

Document Printed: 2010-10-23

Changes to legislation: There are currently no known outstanding effects

for the Cestui Que Vie Act 1666. (See end of Document for details)

Annotations:

Amendments (Textual)

F1 S. II repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1948 (c. 62), Sch. 1

Page 21: Cestui Que Vie Trust

III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F2

Annotations:

Amendments (Textual)

F2 S. III repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1863 (c. 125)

IV If the supposed dead Man prove to be alive, then the Title is revested. Action for

mean Profits with Interest.

[X2Provided alwayes That if any person or [X3person or] persons shall be evicted out of

any Lands or Tenements by vertue of this Act, and afterwards if such person or persons

upon whose life or lives such Estate or Estates depend shall returne againe from beyond

the Seas, or shall on proofe in any Action to be brought for recovery of the same [to]

be made appeare to be liveing; or to have beene liveing at the time of the Eviction That

then and from thenceforth the Tennant or Lessee who was outed of the same his or their

Executors Administrators or Assignes shall or may reenter repossesse have hold and

enjoy the said Lands or Tenements in his or their former Estate for and dureing the Life

or Lives or soe long terme as the said person or persons upon whose Life or Lives the

said Estate or Estates depend shall be liveing, and alsoe shall upon Action or Actions to

be brought by him or them against the Lessors Reversioners or Tennants in possession

or other persons respectively which since the time of the said Eviction received the

Proffitts of the said Lands or Tenements recover for damages the full Proffitts of the

said Lands or Tenements respectively with lawfull Interest for and from the time that

he or they were outed of the said Lands or Tenements, and kepte or held out of the same

by the said Lessors Reversioners Tennants or other persons who after the said Eviction

Page 22: Cestui Que Vie Trust

received the Proffitts of the said Lands or Tenements or any of them respectively as

well in the case when the said person or persons upon whose Life or Lives such Estate

or Estates did depend are or shall be dead at the time of bringing of the said Action or

Actions as if the said person or persons where then liveing.]

Annotations:

Editorial Information

X2 annexed to the Original Act in a separate Schedule

X3 Variant reading of the text noted in The Statutes of the Realm as follows: O. omits [O. refers to a

collection in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge]

.reply

Fri, 09/02/2011 - 18:53 — Gavin (not verified)

cestui que trust - a right in equity.

Black's Law Dictionary, 4th Ed. Pg 1487, Definition "Right" (Extraction) as follows:

"Rights are also either legal or equitable. The former is the case where the person seeking to enforce the right for his own benefit has the legal

title and a remedy at law. The latter are such as are enforceable only in equity; as, at the suit of cestui que trust."