{"id":1232,"date":"2012-12-20T07:33:07","date_gmt":"2012-12-20T12:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spiegelsohmer.com\/2012\/12\/20\/family-trust-requires-an-independent-trustee\/"},"modified":"2016-12-22T11:22:16","modified_gmt":"2016-12-22T16:22:16","slug":"family-trust-requires-an-independent-trustee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiegelryan.com\/en\/2012\/12\/20\/family-trust-requires-an-independent-trustee\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Trust Requires an Independent Trustee"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent Quebec Superior Court judgment makes one of the clearest statements yet that a trust governed by Quebec law requires at least one independent trustee (independent in the sense, usually, that there is at least one trustee who is also not a beneficiary of the trust).  The judgment was rendered on October 31, 2012 in the case of Financi\u00e8re Transcapitale Inc.<\/i> v. <\/a>Estate Allaire <\/a> <\/i>(2012 QCCS 5733).<\/p>\n

 The case concerned a family trust, settled by a father.  The trust beneficiaries were the mother (as to interest) and the two children (as to capital).  The three trustees were the same mother and her two children.  (The trust seemed to not be a spousal trust under the Income Tax Act<\/i> of Canada, because the mother was not entitled to all interest earned.)<\/p>\n

 The trust granted a movable hypothec (akin to a security interest) over its brokerage account, but the Court held that the hypothec was null and of no effect because of the lack of an independent trustee.  (The Court did not nullify the trust, but one wonders if that is also theoretically possible.)  According to the Court:<\/p>\n