| Abstract: | Can the discharge by a trustee of a beneficiary's moral obligationconstitute a benefit? The answer to this question was fundamentalto an application to the High Court in London by trustees fordirections of whether they could exercise a power of appointmentunder a trust deed and release a substantial part of the trustcapital to the life tenant who wanted to devote the money tocharitable causes. In principle the court decided that the exercise of the relevantpower in this way could be taken as being of benefit for thebeneficiary but, under the circumstances of this case, the intendeduse of the funds could not properly be said to be for her benefit. Under a marriage settlement, created in 1964, the trust deedgave the trustees a general |
