Charitable Trusts Notes

CHARITABLE TRUSTS TRUSTS | PAGE 39 CHARITABLE TRUSTS Charitable Trusts v Private Trusts * Both: o Created inter vivos or by a will o Must satisfy certainty of intention and subject matter o Trustees must comply with the same general duties * The difference: o Object is a community or public benefit rather than a certain beneficiary Non--charitable purpose trusts: * Trusts for non--charitable purposes fail because there is no beneficiary * Exceptions: o Upkeep of tombs or animals o Directly or indirectly for benefit of ascertainable beneficiaries SS? Re Denley's Trust Deed * Gifts to unincorporated associations o No separate legal status = no property SS? S33(q) Succession Act Qld Attorney--General (NSW) v Perpetual Trustee Co (Ltd) "A charitable trust is a trust for a purpose, not for a person. The objects of ordinary trusts are individuals, either named or answering a description, whether presently or at some future time. To dispose of property for the fulfillment of ends considered beneficial to the community is an entirely different thing from creating equitable estates and interests and limiting them to beneficiaries. In this fundamental distinction sufficient reason may be found for many of the differences in treatment of charitable and ordinary trusts" - (Dixon and Evatt JJ) * Attorney--General and Courts have an inherent jurisdiction to supervise the operation of charitable trusts o They can last indefinitely if they are structured correctly o The trustees interest must vest in the perpetuity period o Because courts have a jurisdiction to enforce charitable trusts, they will almost always TRUSTS | PAGE 40

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