Trustees Duties and Powers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Trustees Duties and Powers - Essay Example â€Å"A Trust is an arrangement where one or more persons (the â€Å"Trustees†) hold property for another person or persons (the â€Å"Beneficiaries†). This relationship is governed primarily by the document creating the trust (the â€Å"Trust Deed†) and by legislation and case law. Legal ownership of Trust property is in the Trustees’ names but the beneficial interest belongs to the beneficiaries. The idea behind a Trust is the concept of duty. Trustees are under a duty to deal with the property in their hands in the interests of the beneficiaries. If they do not do so, they will be in breach of Trust and the beneficiaries may seek relief from the courts to ensure that the terms of the Trust are carried out.† Understanding from the above explanation, we find that a trust is an arrangement of one or more persons, who are known as the trustees. Over here, Sally is a trustee. A trustee arranges property, which may also be included as cash money, for the benefit of another person or persons, and those persons are known as beneficiaries. Therefore, from the understanding of the quoted text, we may figure out that under this circumstance, Harry and Caroline. The question is whether George may be included as a beneficiary for the 25,000 USD legacies. With regard to the first question, the trust which Sally had held for George is a secret trust. She has put the 25,000 on her own legacy as the money which is deemed to be distinguished from the main trust beneficial to her 2 children. There are many reasons why an individual might want to have a protective trust against the name of an outsider, however the purpose is to allow a certain sum of money as a safeguard in case of any misfortune or unfortunate event happening in the distribution of the trust. Since Bill is the executor of the will, it is on his discretion to award the legacy of the trust to George. The gift which Sally has given to George is a valid gift under the law of trust and therefore should be awarded to the beneficiary, which is George on the discretion of Bill himself. B) The second question is as follows: â€Å"Harry has, since Sally’s death, been made bankrupt. He asks for money from his trust fund to buy a house for himself Louise and George to live in. † As mentioned before, Harry is one of the main beneficiaries in the distribution of the trust. Even though his mother did not approve of his lifestyle and found him to be irresponsible to carry out the duties as beneficiary properly, there is no denying to the fact that he is indeed one of the beneficiaries and therefore has all the rights under the trust law to claim his stake in the property left by his mother. Understanding from the above statement, only the trustee has the power to assign where the trust is distributed, and the document of trust has the final binding nature with respect to the distribution of the trust property. Over here, Sally had assigned a protective trust to her son of an amount of 500,000 USD to be given to him, and the rest on RSCPA. â€Å"In order to understand a protective trust, it is first necessary to understand the purpose of its establishment. In contrast to an asset protection trust, which tends to be established with the interests of the settler (that is, the individual establishing the trust) in mind, a protective trus

Analyze the implications of the 1st and 2nd Amendments to the U.S Essay

Analyze the implications of the 1st and 2nd Amendments to the U.S. Constitution - Essay Example The Bill of Rights is arguably the most crucial portion of the Constitution because it ensures that our system of majority rule will not degenerate into a system of mob rule. It is designed to protect the rights of the minority from an unfettered majority that might otherwise trample those rights. The protection of minority rights that is enshrined within the Bill of Rights facilitates an open political system in which dissent is tolerated under the law and informs the political process. In essence, protection of minority rights such as freedom to criticize the government and freedom of the press to openly report on government activities is the reason why the United States is able to have a legitimate political system marked by free and fair elections. If minority rights were squashed, it would lead to a governmental system more akin to communism, in which the majority party becomes the only legal party because they essentially outlaw the opposition. The First and Second Amendments t o the Constitution are critically important components of the scheme to protect minority rights in America. The First Amendment to the ... It is no accident that these three basic freedoms are outlined within the first of ten Amendments. It is likely that the Framers of the Constitution considered these to be the most important of all the rights that need to be protected from the will of the majority, in order to establish a truly open and free democratic republic. Among the many current issues that have arisen out of the First Amendment is the question of the extent to which the press has the right to protect its sources. The jailing us New York Times reporter Judith Miller for failing to reveal her source in the matter of the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame raises the specter of the government's ability to chill press freedom to investigate and report on sensitive government matters. Ultimately, it was found that the interest of the state in prosecuting criminals and providing for national security trumps the right of reporters to refuse to disclose their sources. The implications of this finding are grave; and it remains to be seen whether investigative reporting in America will be severely weakened in the future as potential sources of information refuse to come forward for fear that the government might force disclosure of their identities. That result could end up depriving the public of important information they need to develop informed opinions about public matters. Another First Amendment issue that continues to be relevant is the doctrine of Separation of Church and State. The First Amendment guarantees that "Congress shall make no law respecting the Establishment of a religion," nor shall the government be allowed to prohibit free exercise of religion. In essence, the First Amendment guarantees that the government, in all its