Equity & Trusts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Equity & Trusts - Essay Example An imperfect gift can only arise in the first two cases, and a gift would be imperfect if the transfer of title of the subject matter of the gift does not takes place from the settlor's name to the trustees. There can be no possibility of an imperfect gift in the third case because no formalities of transfer of rights are necessary. The exact constitutive requirements of a trust depend upon the nature of the property forming the subject-matter. In case of unregistered land, execution of a deed is necessary, whereas, in registered land, the trustee will need to be registered as proprietor on the register of title. In case of chattels (including cash), it has to be conveyed by either deed or delivery. In case of chose in action, this depends upon the different types of chose in action. In case of shares, for example, they can only be transferred by the recording of the transfer in the company’s books by the company secretary. The general attitude of the courts is reflected by Turner LJ’s statement in Milroy v. ... settlement, the settlor must have done everything which, according to the nature of the property as subject-matter of the settlement, was necessary to be done in order to transfer the property. If the settlor's chosen mode of donation fails, the court will not perfect the gift by allowing it to take effect by other modes. This case goes further to state that the beneficiary cannot allege in an imperfect gift that the settlor constituted to declare himself a trustee. In Richard v. Delbridge2, D decided to gift his lease of premises and business to his grandson R, who was an infant. He signed a memorandum and gave it to R’s mother, but before making a reference to the gift in his will he died. It was held that no self-declaratory trust was created: â€Å"It is necessary to show, not only an intention to benefit someone; but an intention to be trustee for that person†. According to Choihtram v. Pagarani3, â€Å"Men often mean to give things to their kinsfolk, they do not often mean to constitute themselves trustees. An imperfect gift is no declaration of trust†. Thus, equity will not come to the aid of any person who has given no consideration for the gift. For example, if a father, due to parental affection, promises to give his property to his son but dies before the actual conveyance, equity will not aid the son’s for the enforcement of that promise unless he had provided any consideration. However, this rule became very rigid in practice and may sometimes run into contradiction with the basic elements of quity i.e. fairness and justice. For instance, if a father declares in front of many people to give his entire property to only one son then that son has to give no consideration for that. But if the father dies unexpectedly before actual conveyance then