A trustee has a limited discretion to refuse a beneficiary's request to inspect trust documents where the trustee has reasonable grounds for considering that disclosure will not be in the interests of beneficiaries as a whole and will be prejudicial to the trustee's ability to discharge its obligations. This discretion is particularly applicable to confidential litigation documents such as the trustee's brief to counsel. The discretion cannot be used as an excuse for paternalism and its availability depends on the circumstances. The question of whether the statutory right of inspection under s 84B of the Trustee Act 1936 (SA) is subject to the same qualification was left open.
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