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Today, in a decision of great significance for the law of trusts, the High Court dismissed an appeal from a decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal. John Kelly SC, Simon Shepherd and Adrian Maroya appeared for the successful respondents (who succeeded as appellants in the Court of Appeal). The High Court appeal concerned whether a successor trustee owes a fiduciary obligation to a former trustee in respect of the former trustee’s entitlement to be indemnified out of trust assets (or the commensurate beneficial interest in the trust assets that the former trustee retains) following replacement of the former trustee by the successor trustee.
The High Court (by majority) held that a successor trustee does not owe a fiduciary obligation to a former trustee in respect of the entitlement of the former trustee to indemnification out of the trust assets, or the commensurate beneficial interest that the former trustee has in the trust assets. The majority held that the explanation for that answer lies in the nature of a trustee’s entitlement to indemnification out of the trust assets being an entitlement to have the trust assets applied for the purpose of recouping expenditure or exonerating liability properly incurred by the trustee. Accordingly, the remedies of equitable compensation and account are not available to the former trustee against the third parties.
Read the full judgment here.
Please join us in congratulating Katrina Howard SC for being recognised in Chambers and Partners 2025 Asia Pacific Guide. Katrina continues to be the only female silk ranked in Band 1 of the Intellectual Property: The Bar – Australia listings.
See the rankings here.
Congratulations to Andre Zahra SC and Mark Newton for their recognition in the latest edition of Doyle's Guide, as Leading Professional Indemnity Senior Counsel and Junior Counsel in New South Wales, 2024.
See the Senior Counsel rankings here.
See the Junior Counsel rankings here.
We pleased to welcome our new reader, Sefton Powrie.
Sefton joins us from Gilbert + Tobin, where he was advising on a broad range of commercial, insolvency and insurance law matters as a senior lawyer in the Disputes + Investigations team. Prior to joining Gilbert + Tobin, Sefton was an Associate at Baker McKenzie’s Melbourne office advising and acting for corporate clients and the ACCC.
Sefton accepts briefs in all areas of the law, with an emphasis on:
● Arbitration
● Banking & Financial Services
● Bankruptcy & Insolvency
● Class Actions
● Commercial Law
● Competition & Consumer Law
● Contracts & Commercial Transactions
● Corporations Law
● Insurance & Professional Indemnity
● Real Property & Strata Disputes
● Wills & Estates
Sefton can be contacted on 02 8915 2155 or powrie@selbornechambers.com.au, or through his Clerk, Ella Baxendale on 02 8915 2101. More information about Sefton, including his CV, can be found here.
We all look forward to working with Sefton during his reading year and in the years to come.
