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Private and Commercial Trusts Law (LAWS90196)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Not available in 2022
From 2023 most subjects will be taught on campus only with flexible options limited to a select number of postgraduate programs and individual subjects.
To learn more, visit COVID-19 course and subject delivery.
Overview
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This subject provides the opportunity to explore in depth the theoretical and practical issues concerning trusts law.
Trusts law extensively underlies, facilitates, and informs private wealth management and many commercial transactions. Trusts law also has a significant international aspect: it is pervasive not only in Australia and most other common law jurisdictions (including the ‘offshore world’), but also increasingly utilised in many civil law jurisdictions. This subject investigates private and commercial aspects of trusts law from an international perspective.
The subject is roughly split into two halves. The first half addresses trusts law in the private wealth management context, where we consider (among other things) the modern discretionary trust, how trustees’ exercise of powers may be controlled, and how trusts may be used and misused and the legal responses of ‘onshore’ and ‘offshore’ jurisdictions. The second half addresses trusts law in the commercial context, where we will consider how trusts law underlies and informs (among other things) assignments, unit trusts, bonds, and intermediated holding of securities. The subject will also consider the choice of law rules for express, resulting, and constructive trusts within private international law.
Among the topics to be explored are:
- Discretionary trusts and powers
- Letters of wishes
- Sham trusts
- Purpose trusts
- Protectors
- Asset protection trusts
- Equitable assignment
- Unit trusts
- Bond trustees
- Intermediated holding of securities
- Creditor trusts
- Choice of law in private international law
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will understand, appreciate, and be able to explain the significance of:
- The use of trusts in several important commercial aspects and how they may differ from the private wealth management context;
- The use of trusts for private wealth management, in particular strategies commonly utilised by settlors to assert control during the life of a trust and the legal responses to those strategies both 'onshore' and 'offshore';
- The choice of law rules for trusts within private international law.
Generic skills
Expected skills developed through successful completion of the subject:
- An appreciation of the inherent character, flexibility, and limits of trusts law from a multijurisdictional perspective;
- A capacity to identify, understand, and critically evaluate the creative uses, and misuses of trusts law by the modern day settlor;
- An ability to identify, understand, and critically evaluate how trusts law facilitates certain commercial transactions and its limitations;
- Skills in the application of the comparative method.
Last updated: 10 November 2023
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Admission into the MC-JURISD Juris Doctor
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
LAWS90096 | International Trust Law | Not available in 2024 |
12.5 |
LAWS90186 | Advanced Trusts Law | February (Online) |
12.5 |
Recommended background knowledge
Recommended knowledge: trusts law and contracts law, although these are not prerequisites. This subject is suitable for those with common law or civil law backgrounds, whether or not with previous trusts law knowledge.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 10 November 2023
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Take-home examination
| 29 May - 1 June | 100% |
Last updated: 10 November 2023
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
Not available in 2022
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students.
Enrolment is on a first come, first served basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.
Students should note priority of places in subjects will be given as follows:
- To currently enrolled Graduate Diploma and Masters students with a satisfactory record in their degree
- To other students enrolling on a single subject basis, eg Community Access Program (CAP) students, cross-institutional study and cross-faculty study.
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Last updated: 10 November 2023
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Specialist materials will be provided via the LMS.
Last updated: 10 November 2023