Also known as: express trust
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An arrangement by which a settlor transfers property to a trustee to hold legal title for the benefit of designated beneficiaries under terms that impose enforceable fiduciary duties. The trust arises only when the settlor manifests an intention to create it and satisfies any applicable formalities such as a writing for land. Beneficiaries receive equitable interests that courts protect against improper administration or termination by the trustee.
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Jade served as personal representative of her father's estate and held a conservative bond portfolio. She liquidated the bonds and placed the proceeds in high-risk derivatives managed by a personal friend, producing substantial losses. The sole beneficiary sued to recover the decline. The court held Jade liable for the loss to the same extent as a trustee of an express trust because her exercise of power was improper.
David executed a written instrument directing South Freight to segregate five percent of freight receipts for truck repairs and to provide income for his children and retirement security for drivers. Irene and other drivers later claimed the fund as a bonus pool under side letters. The court applied the Uniform Trust Code because the instrument created an express trust administered in the manner of an express trust.
Farkas executed instruments directing that shares be purchased in Williams's name with Farkas retaining power to revoke until death. Upon Farkas's death the shares were to pass to Williams. The court held that Williams received an immediate beneficial interest under an express trust even though Farkas retained revocation power during his life.
A grantor conveyed land to a trustee with directions to convey the premises to the grantor's heirs at law upon the grantor's death if the property remained unsold. The grantor retained power to direct reconveyance at any time. The court held that the grantor retained a reversionary interest because the trust did not divest the grantor of all future rights in the property.
Yes. Section 102 provides that the Code governs express trusts, charitable or noncharitable. A written instrument that imposes duties on a trustee, identifies beneficiaries, and requires administration in the manner of an express trust falls within the Code even if side letters describe the fund differently.
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…reach the same conclusion. The direction to the trustee is the superfluous expression of a duty imposed by law. “Where an express trust is created, every legal estate and interest not embraced in the trust, and not otherwise disposed of, shall remain in or revert to, the person creating the trust or his heirs” (Real Prop.…
…the creation of the trust. As stated in 4 Powell, The Law of Real Property, at page 87: “Interests of beneficiaries of private
…by reference to state law. Aquilino v. United States , 363 U.S. 509, 512-13, 80 S.Ct. 1277, 1279-80, 4 L.Ed.2d 1365 (1960). An express trust
Liability arises under Unif. Prob. Code § 3-712 when the personal representative improperly exercises power concerning the estate and thereby breaches fiduciary duty. The representative must restore the loss to interested persons. Good-faith documentation of reasoning does not excuse objectively imprudent conduct such as self-dealing or reckless investment shifts.
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Yes. A notarized document stating that the owners hold the property in trust for a defined class of beneficiaries satisfies the requirements for an express trust of land. The beneficiaries receive equitable interests that equity will protect by injunction even if the instrument is unrecorded.
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No. Section 103 excludes a power that is exercisable only with the consent of a person holding an adverse interest. When the consent requirement protects the consenting party's own financial stake, the beneficiary lacks a presently exercisable general power of withdrawal.
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