Further Principles of Trusts Project - Essay Example

The management of the amount has been left entirely to the discretion of the trustees, who by default, now have the power to invest the funds for the benefit of the entire trust of the deceased. Hence at the outset, the immediate dispersal of funds to the nephews and nieces is not a mandatory requirement on the part of the trustees, who have the power to invest it as they see fit. IT must be clarified straight away, that the trust fund for the nephews and nieces does not entitle them to immediately be entitled to all of the proceeds, hence dispersal of the total amount of 500,000 pounds is out of the question.

It must also be noted that among the nephews and nieces of Alan Benson, the deceased, only two are above the age of 18. The Trustees now have the power to invest trust funds by default and they have the option to invest the entire capital of 500,000 pounds for the benefit of all the beneficiaries, i.e, the four children, until all of them reach the age of eighteen. Since the Trustees will be expected to invest the funds or manage them to the best of their ability for the benefit of those named as beneficiaries of the trust, there is a pre-existing factor working against the breaking up of the total trust amount into its four constituent parts of 125,000 pounds, which each child will be entitled to.

By immediately disbursing the funds of the trust as requested in Tahir Hussain’s letter, the trustees run the risk of being accused of mismanaging the funds, especially if the proposed ventures, i.e, expansion of existing business and vacations trips, etc are not successful and result in a loss of monies, thereby contravening the goal of allocation of these funds for the benefit of those children. It is significant to note that no restriction has been imposed in the will on the trustees’ power of investment of the funds, which suggests that the original intent of the deceased may have been to ensure that the allocation of 500,000