The Trustee Act 1925 (15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. 19) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 9 April 1925, which codified and updated the regulation of trustees' powers and appointment in England and Wales. It accompanied the land reform legislation of the 1920s. It came into effect on 1 January 1926.

Provisions

Section 61 There is a discretionary power available to the courts under this section which allows a trustee's personal liability for a breach of trust to be lifted if it appears to the court that the trustee "has acted honestly and reasonably, and ought fairly to be excused for the breach of trust and for omitting to obtain the directions of the court in the matter in which he committed such breach". The trustee could be relieved from personal liability "either wholly or partly".UK Legislation, Trustee Act 1925, section 61, accessed 25 December 2020

In a 2012 ruling concerned with liability for payment of a mortgage sum fraudulently requested by imposters, the High Court assessed the requirements of honesty and reasonableness separately and found that the solicitors who had wrongly handed over payment had acted "honestly" but not "reasonably". In the Court of Appeal, this ruling was overturned and the circumstances allowed the solicitors to be "fairly excused" their breach of trust.Hopcraft, S., Davisons Solicitors v Nationwide Building Society, Wright Hassall, published on 18 February 2013, accessed on 20 December 2024 Repealed enactments Section 70 of the act repealed 15 enactments, listed in the second schedule to the act.

CitationShort titleExtent of repeal22 & 23 Vict. c. 35Law of Property Amendment Act 1859Sections twenty-three, twenty-seven, twenty-eight and twenty-nine.44 & 45 Vict. c. 41Conveyancing Act 1881Subsections (4) and (5) of section forty-two.48 & 49 Vict. c. 25East India Unclaimed Stock Act 1885Subsection (3) of section twenty-three.53 & 54 Vict. c. 5Lunacy Act 1890Sections one hundred and thirty-five to one hundred and thirty-eight, so far as they relate to lunatic trustees, except where the Judge or Master in Lunacy is given concurrent jurisdiction with the High Court.56 & 57 Vict. c. 53Trustee Act 1893The whole act.57 & 58 Vict. c. 10Trustee Act 1893, Amendment Act 1894Sections one and four.59 & 60 Vict. c. 35Judicial Trustees Act 1896Section three.1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 37Conveyancing Act 1911Section eight.1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 40Lunacy Act 1911Section one.4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 47Deeds of Arrangement Act 1914Section eighteen.9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 99Housing (Additional Powers) Act 1919Section nine.11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 55Railways Act 1921The words "the Trustee Act, 1893, and" in section fifteen.12 & 13 Geo. 5. c. 16Law of Property Act 1922Subsection (4) of section eighty-three, section eighty-eight; Part IV., except subsection (7) of section one hundred and ten, subsection (3) of section one hundred and thirteen, and subsection (5) of section one hundred and twenty-three.12 & 13 Geo. 5. c. 60Lunacy Act 1922Subsections (3), (4) and (5) of section two.15 Geo. 5. c. 5Law of Property (Amendment) Act 1924Section five and the Fifth Schedule.

Subsequent developments Section 65 of the act was repealed by section 10(2) of, and part I of schedule 3 to, the Criminal Law Act 1967, which came into force on 1 January 1968.

The Trustee Act 2000 (c. 29), which came into force on 1 February 2001, repealed part I of the act and replaced the investment powers of trustees with a broader statutory duty of care and a general power of investment.

See also English property law English trusts law Land Registration Act 1925 Trustee Act 2000

Notes

References

Further reading WT Murphy, T Flessas and S Roberts, Understanding Property Law (4th edn Sweet and Maxwell, London 2003) C Harpum, S Bridge and M Dixon, Megarry & Wade: The Law of Real Property (7th edn Sweet and Maxwell 2008)

External links