Chapter 2 Interactive key cases

Money was left for the provision of grants to a large class of objects, including ex-employees and their relatives and dependants.

The test for certainty of objects of a trust required a list (see chapter 3) and it was unclear if all relatives could be so listed. The test for a power required conceptual certainty only, that there were relatives. Lord Wilberforce felt that the nature of this disposition was more akin to a power than a fixed trust so the given postulant (‘is/is not’) test could be applied and the trust was valid. There are dissenting judgments that should be read to understand the blurred lines between trusts and powers.

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