Module LAW3591: Trusts, Wealth and Justice in a Global Context

Department: Law

LAW3591: Trusts, Wealth and Justice in a Global Context

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• Building on the foundations laid in Trusts Law, to equip students with advanced knowledge of trusts law in England & Wales and other jurisdictions.
• To develop an understanding of the use of the trust as a mechanism for private wealth management in a global context where this is relevant to matters of economic, social and environmental justice.
• To introduce students to critical scholarship on trusts law and develop an ability to use this critical scholarship in written and oral argument.
• To be able to bridge the doctrinal / critical divide by engaging with complex case law from both doctrinal and critical perspectives.

Content

• The course will cover a selection of topics drawn from the following indicative areas:
• The recognition and regulation of trusts in offshore jurisdictions;
• Onshoring the offshore;
• Critical approaches to trusts law;
• Trusts law and inequality;
• Trusts and succession planning;
• Trusts and taxation;
• Trusts and asset management;
• Trusts and insolvency;
• Transparency and privacy of ownership;
• Dynastic trusts;
• Capitalism and the trust;
• Massively discretionary trusts;
• Sham trusts;
• Settlor control;
• Private purpose trusts;
• New horizons for the trust.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will have:
• Advanced knowledge of the law of trusts in England & Wales as well as in other jurisdictions;
• An understanding of the drivers behind developments in trusts law and the processes by which such developments take place;
• Broad knowledge of the role and effects of the trust for the management of private wealth;
• An understanding of different conceptions of justice that may be brought to bear on the law of trusts;
• Familiarity with the various types of commentary and scholarship on trusts law.

• Students should be able to:
• Understand and address complex issues in international trusts law and offshore structures;
• Analyse and evaluate specific instances of the use of trusts, taking into account both doctrinal and critical perspectives;
• Draw on diverse sources in identifying issues of social, environmental and economic justice associated with trusts.

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate developed research and writing skills, including the ability to work independently and to take responsibility for their own learning;
• Apply a critical approach to both trusts law and trusts law scholarship.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The course is taught through 2-hour seminars, usually held bi-weekly during Michaelmas and Epiphany terms. Seminars alternate between a doctrinal and critical focus. Seminars begin with a lecture that introduces the topic, followed by an in-depth discussion of selected materials. These may include cases, reports and academic commentary and will need to be prepared by students beforehand using a set of pre-assigned questions that are structured around the learning outcomes of the course. Further reading will be set to enable students to investigate some more of the complex aspects of the law and encourage independent learning.
• The course is assessed by a summative essay. The assessment will test students’ ability to formulate independent critical arguments using their advanced knowledge of trusts law, its social impacts and relevant commentary and scholarship.
• Formative assessment consists of one or more seminar-based activities, which may include short presentations, team-based learning exercises, or other practical activities, as appropriate to the subject matter.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

Engagement in seminar-based formative activities (which may include short presentations, team-based learning exercises, or other practical activities).