Uniqueness of South African trusts - a webinar series

THIS WEBINAR IS NEW TO THE SERIES.

What every trustee, trust beneficiary and adviser should know about trust administration.

This online webinar is intended for everybody who, in one way or another, is involved in the administration of trusts and trust law, as well as every trustee or adviser whether as a novice or a seasoned guru.  This includes attorneys, directors of companies, auditors, accountants, other professionals, and all trustees who want to learn more about trusts.

In this webinar, we will discuss many of the difficulties with the administration of a trust and important do's and don’ts of trusteeships.  We will unpack and focus on what trustees should do to keep their noses clean, so to speak, when exercising their challenging fiduciary duties, as well as what the beneficiaries’ rights are vis-à-vis trustees who may not be discharging their duties well.  Finally, we will dissect a couple of typical errors with and problem areas in trust administration and explain how to prevent them.

More and more trustees find themselves in trouble, either because they think they know everything or because they really do not know much about trusts.  This webinar will enable attendees to stay out of the trouble and even to solve the knowledge problem.

Topics for discussion:

• What are the three most common errors made with the administration of trusts and how can unsatisfactory trust administration be prevented?
• What are the four most common challenges for trustees when administering a trust?
• What does trusteeship really entail and how easily can a trustee find him/herself involved in a conflict of interests?  What are the consequences of this?
• How is trusteeship acquired in an existing trust after formation and what are the typical pitfalls in this regard?  When is it necessary for a trustee to open a bank account?  What legislative limitations are there on the number of trustees?
• What are the requirements for a valid resignation of a trustee from office and when does the resignation actually take effect?  Does the Turquand rule give trustees any protection?  When can trust documents be destroyed?
• How can trustees validly remove a co-trustee from office, and under what circumstances can trusteeship merely be vacated on the grounds of incapacity or ex officio?  What are the pitfalls?  Who can apply to the court for the removal of a trustee and what other grounds and methods are there for the termination of trusteeship?
• What do a trustee’s fiduciary duty and sub-duties entail and when do these duties take effect?  What effect does this have on the variation of a trust deed and its neglect on the removal of trustees from office?
• How can neglect of their common law and statutory duties, i.e. failing to adhere to the trust deed or to account to beneficiaries or to express an independent view, lead to the easy removal of trustees?  Can trustees merely follow the founder’s wishes?  Who has access to trust information at the Master’s offices?
• What are the rules for the interpretation of a trust deed according to case law and the recent judgments of the Constitutional Court – especially in respect of terms such as “spouse”, “children”, “related by affinity”, etc?
• Under which circumstances (including in divorce matters) does a trust actually become a trustee’s alter ego?  How does this differ from a sham trust?  Who should be joined in divorce proceedings where trusts are involved?
• Can trustees discriminate against a trust beneficiary?  How are trustees supposed to exercise any discretion granted to them in terms of the trust deed?  What role do the rules of natural justice play in this regard?
• Why is it important to first determine the trust beneficiaries’ rights prior to amending a trust deed and what role does the stipulatio alteri play in this?  Can the object of a trust be tampered with and what other typical pitfalls are there regarding the variation of a trust deed?
• What are the implications of the latest Chief Master’s Directive(s) (especially 2 of 2017) for trustees and the administration of trusts, and are the objectives being achieved?