Midland Bank v Wyatt: ChD 1995

Mr Wyatt settled his family home on trust for the benefit of his wife and daughter, so as to immunise it from any business failure he might suffer. When his business did fail, he sought to protect his house from creditors by relying on the settlement earlier executed, of which his wife was a trustee. It emerged that Mr Wyatt’s wife had had no knowledge of the effect or nature of the declaration she signed as ‘trustee’.
Held: There was a sham, and the declaration of trust was void and could not be enforced.
Where a trustee goes along with a settlor neither knowing nor caring what he or she is signing, this constitutes sufficient intention to create a sham.

Citations:

[1997] 1 BCLC 242, [1995] 1 FLR 697

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Trusts

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.556769