This course will introduce students to trusts, a historic concept which today is used in many flexible applications. Trusts figure in a wide range of legal specialties such as tax, estate, property, family, securities, construction and pension law.
This course will cover the foundations of trust law: principles of fiduciary relationships, specific nature of a trust, how trusts are created or arise at law, and their variation and termination. We will examine duties and powers of trustees and how trustees are replaced. We will look at various types of trusts, including: charitable trusts, resulting trusts, and constructive trusts. Throughout the course, we will consider possible breaches of trust and available remedies, an area of interest to future litigators.
Weekly format will be:
-about 45 minutes pre-recorded weekly lecture
-within the regularly scheduled in-person class time – about 2 hour lecture and about 45 minutes unrecorded “workshop time” to facilitate discussion and skills development
By registering for this course, students acknowledge that short portions of submitted assignments may be subsequently used in class, on a “no name” basis, for review and education purposes in compliance with the Fair Dealing Guidelines for York Faculty and Staff.
Method of Evaluation: 20% online assignment (with word limit), 80% take-home final examination (with word limit).