LAW580
Trusts
(Enman-Beech)
Prerequisite courses:
Prerequisite for:
Instructor(s): Professor Jack Enman-Beech
Course credit: 3
Method of presentation: Lecture
Teamwork:
METHOD OF EVALUATION
Optional mid-term that will count as 25% of the final grade if and only if the mark is higher than on the final exam; a final exam for the remainder.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Trusts use the flexibility of equity to manipulate property. Because of this power, historically won by aristocracy from the Crown, trusts have come to be used in many areas, from estate planning to family property disputes to tax avoidance. The course covers general rules that apply to most trusts, including Alberta’s new Trustee Act, as well as some specific types of trust: express trusts and their administration, trusts arising by law, and fiduciary obligations and the relations between Crown and Indigenous Peoples. Though trusts law is technical, we will be guided by certain debates that structure legal argument and judicial decisions in this field:
• What is equitable about trusts?
• To what extent can trustee powers and duties be modified by agreement like a contract? What do the limits on such modifications tell us about the nature of trusts?
• What is the practical role of trusts in Canada today? Who uses them to do what?
Because of the diverse uses of trusts, the final exam will have a modular element. You will study a contemporary trusts topic from a given list of readings, and one question on the final exam will be on the topic of your choice. While the topics are not finalized, they will probably be: Trusts and Corporate and Commercial Law, Trusts and Family Relationships, Trusts and Succession Planning, Trusts in Civil Jurisdictions, and Trusts as Equity.
SPECIAL COMMENTS
Description updated 2025-26. Please contact the instructor for any specific questions you may have related to this particular course section.
REQUIRED TEXTS (IF ANY)
TBD