Trustee Act 1925
title: "Trustee Act 1925" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["acts-of-the-parliament-of-the-united-kingdom-concerning-england-and-wales", "united-kingdom-acts-of-parliament-1925", "english-trusts-law", "english-property-law"] topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trustee_Act_1925" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox UK legislation"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| short_title | Trustee Act 1925 |
| type | Act |
| parliament | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| long_title | An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to trustees in England and Wales. |
| year | 1925 |
| citation | 15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. 19 |
| royal_assent | 9 April 1925 |
| status | amended |
| original_text | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/15-16/19/contents/enacted |
| use_new_UK-LEG | yes |
| :: |
| short_title = Trustee Act 1925 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom | long_title = An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to trustees in England and Wales. | year = 1925 | citation = 15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. 19 | introduced_commons = | introduced_lords = | territorial_extent = | royal_assent = 9 April 1925 | commencement = | expiry_date = | repeal_date = | amends = | replaces = | amendments = | repealing_legislation = | related_legislation = | status = amended | legislation_history = | theyworkforyou = | millbankhansard = | original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/15-16/19/contents/enacted | revised_text = | use_new_UK-LEG = yes | UK-LEG_title = | collapsed =
The Trustee Act 1925 (15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. 19) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 9 April 1925, which codified and updated the regulation of trustees' powers and appointment. It accompanied the land reform legislation of the 1920s. It came into effect on 1 January 1926.
Title
"An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to trustees in England and Wales."
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".
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.
References
References
- UK Legislation, [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/15-16/19/introduction Trustee Act 1925: Introductory Text], accessed 25 December 2020
- UK Legislation, [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/15-16/19/section/61 Trustee Act 1925, section 61], accessed 25 December 2020
- Hopcraft, S., [https://www.wrighthassall.co.uk/knowledge-base/davisons-solicitors-v-nationwide-building-society Davisons Solicitors v Nationwide Building Society], ''Wright Hassall'', published on 18 February 2013, accessed on 20 December 2024
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