Trusts : rights of a beneficiary to information

Abstract

A proper appreciation of the rights of beneficiaries to information from their trustees about the affairs of the trust should be an important factor for careful prospective settlors in deciding whether to put wealth into trust structures and who to include as beneficiaries of those structures. On the one hand they may fear that the width of the rights may lead to the dissemination amongst the beneficiaries of what was previously wholly private financial information, while on the other hand, the settlor will realise that after his death, the beneficiaries will, by having the right to such information, have in their hands a potent weapon with which to keep the trustees in check. Throughout this study, I shall seek to review the legal issues raised in relation to beneficiaries' rights to information as well as some of the more practical issues which may arise therefrom. Part One: A Background to the Law of Trusts; places the reader in context by giving a general outline to what the trust is all about. While Chapter One Introduction; gives a general background to the development of the trust in Malta, Chapter Two - The Concept of Trust; is a general appreciation of what the trust is all about, which includes also an outline of some of the more important preliminary definitions which are necessary for understanding the trust. Part Two: The Beneficiary's Right to Information under a Trust; constitutes the core part of this study, wherein the rights to information belonging to the beneficiaries, is discussed in depth. Chapter Three - A Trustee's Duty of Disclosure and Notification; discusses the subject of this study from the point of view of the irreducible core content of trusteeship; the duty of trustees to volunteer information or to provide information upon request, and the differences which arise in relation to disclosure and notification in relation to beneficiaries under fixed and discretionary trusts as well as objects of a discretionary power.