Fiduciary Duty Claims

Why have fiduciary duties?

Fiduciary duties are required in order to prevent unwanted conduct on the part of the fiduciary.

Fiduciary duties are separate to and additional to a trustee’s duties. All trustees are fiduciaries but not all fiduciaries are trustees. There is no overlap.

A trustee’s specific fiduciary duties towards a beneficiary include not to profit from the trust and avoiding a conflict of interests.

Can breach of a fiduciary duty be avoided?

A fiduciary may be able to avoid liability for breach of fiduciary duty by seeking the informed consent of his principal (i.e. that the beneficiary/beneficiaries was/were aware and authorised the action taken by the trustee).

What are the ramifications for a fiduciary acting in breach of duty?

Any action taken in breach of a fiduciary duty can be set aside even if there has been no resulting loss. A proprietary remedy enabling the claimant to assert rights against property in the in the defendant’s possession may also available.

Seeking a Beddoe Order in relation to friendly trust disputes would not be appropriate. In these cases, the court will determine whether the trustees are entitled to meet the cost of the proceedings from the trust fund when the matter reaches its conclusion.

Trustees are not able to make a Beddoe application with respect to claims affecting the interests of beneficiaries between themselves or a claim by a beneficiary against a trustee.

How can we help?