Family Law

Robert Christie, Senior Associate, Dickinson Gleeson

Lawyers dealing with the reallocation of assets in the matrimonial context often find that one of the parties has a discretionary interest in a Jersey trust. As a matter of trust law, a discretionary beneficiary has no beneficial interest in the trust assets but only a right to ensure due administration of the trust. The English High Court has various powers in relation to trusts, including in the matrimonial context, but the purported exercise of such powers in relation to a Jersey trust will not be recognised in Jersey because of the firewall legislation in Art 9 of the Trusts (Jersey) Law 1984 (‘the Law’). Understanding the best approach to dealing with such an interest is therefore of vital importance.

There have been two very recent decisions of the Royal Court in Jersey in relation to Jersey trusts and foreign matrimonial proceedings. This article provides a brief summary of those decisions and identifies potential issues for the future. A longer version of this article which explores related cases is published in November [2016] International Family Law 328.

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The full version of this article appears in the December 2016 issue of Family Law. 

Online subscribers can access the article here.

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