3 SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Department of Law and Humanities Law Assessment brief Programme Title and Year: Law with Criminal Justice Year 3 LLB Year 3 Semester 2, Academic year 2021/22. Module Title: The...

Introduction
Trust[footnoteRef:1] is defined in the Irish legislation, as a legal arrangement where one person or a group of people transfers all the assets to a trustee (also known as the caretaker), this trustee then holds the assets for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries who are directly or indirectly related to the trust or the assets. Trust provides flexibility as it separates the ownership and control of the assets by appointing the trustee [1: https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1893/act/53/section/50/enacted/en/html#sec50]
Trusts are an important entity and the main reason for setting up a trust is the enhanced privacy and better handling of the assets of the settlor who wants to transfer the assets ultimately to the beneficiary/beneficiaries.
Trusts are created by the person having assets for many reasons some of which are:
· Financial support for the well-being of the minor
· Charitable or religious purpose
· Medical aid to the beneficiary
· Many more
Trusts are created when the settlor wants to transfer assets for a reason like the ones mentioned above. A trust is created for the beneficiary by the settlor but it benefits all the three parties involved when the settlor gets the asset protection and the confirmation that his/her assets will be transferred to the beneficiary as specified, the trustee gets to manage the trust and make his or her living, and the beneficiary which is the ultimate benefactor of the trust gets an assets protection that he or she will receive the asset once they turn to the legal age of 18.
Legislation
Ireland is one country that has a very old tradition of setting up an entity like trusts and this dates to the 1600s when the first trust was established in the country as per the English Legislation. The act which governs the Trusts is the ‘Trustee Act’. The act has undergone many changes and serval amendments to keep the Act as modern as possible because of the changes, the latest change which the act saw was in the year 2008, under the Trustee Bill[footnoteRef:2]. [2: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmbills/149/2000149.htm]
The legislation also defines the obligation of the trustees which he or she is obligated to perform, and along with this the legislation clearly states the rights of the beneficiaries, where the rights of the beneficiaries vary because of the terms mentioned by the settlor, the rights of the beneficiaries are contingent in most cases and not contingent[footnoteRef:3] or dependent on certain activities in other cases. [3: https://mcmahonsolicitors.ie/terms-of-trusts/]
The various laws and acts which are referred to when Trusts are talked about are:
· Trusteeee Act (1893, 1931)
· Succession Act 1965
· Trustee (Authorised Investments) 1998
Creation of Trust[footnoteRef:4] [4: https://library.croneri.co.uk/cch_uk/wfpt/4-1]
Any person be it a resident or a foreign citizen can set up a trust in Ireland. Trust in the country can be created by any legal person who is in the legal capacity to deal with the property/equity or any other thing which can be associated with the trust[footnoteRef:5]. Any person can create a trust, but a person under the age of 18 may be able to dispose of the asset inherited from the trust only after he/she reaches the legal age of (i.e., 18 years), until then the asset will be kept aside. [5: https://mcmahonsolicitors.ie/creation-of-trusts/#:~:text=A%20trust%20can%20be%20created,vulnerable%20to%20being%20set%20aside.]
A trust can be created by drafting a deed of trust which is the most important document while setting up a trust.
Trust can be both Valid and Invalid....