CPLC Seminar series: 'Creditors' Access to Trust Assets: Comparative Perspectives'

Speakers: Professor Alexandra Popovici (Université de Sherbrooke) and Professor Lionel Smith (Cambridge)

The conceptual structure of the trust is widely variable across legal systems. Trustees, who control the trust assets, may rightly create liabilities in the administration of the trust. The questions that arise include: who is the debtor of these liabilities? If they are not met, can creditors access the trust assets? If so, how is this conceptualized and implemented? In answering these questions, which lie at the intersection of patrimony, personality, and property, the law has to balance several objectives, including the protection of trustees from personal liability where that would be inappropriate; the protection of creditors, whose ability to access trust assets may conflict with the interests of beneficiaries; and of course the interests of the trust beneficiaries, whose wish to preserve the trust assets may conflict with the interests of both creditors and trustees.

Open to Faculty members, visitors, invitees and LLM/MCL/PhD students only.

Sandwiches served in G11 from 12.30pm; seminar to commence in the Moot Court Room at 1–2pm.

So that we can gauge numbers for catering, please rsvp by Wed 14 Feb to privatelaw@law.cam.ac.uk.

The Cambridge Private Law Centre acknowledges with gratitude the generous financial support of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and of South Square.