The Court of Appeal held that s 48 of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) applies directly to bar a beneficiary's claim for an account in common form where the account sought is founded on and intimately connected to alleged breaches of trust, even though a common account does not in the abstract require proof of breach; the relevant limitation period runs from the date of each wrongful distribution, not from when a court determines the recipient was not a beneficiary. The Court also held that an order under s 85 of the Trustee Act 1925 (NSW) excusing a trustee from personal liability for breach of trust is a complete answer to any claim for restoration of trust property arising from that breach, rejecting the argument that the trustee's obligation to maintain the trust fund intact is independent of and survives relief from breach. Leeming JA further clarified, by detailed historical analysis, that a beneficiary's entitlement to an account in common form has not been obtainable as of right since procedural reforms in 1883 (England) and 1901 (NSW), leaving open but not deciding whether a prayer for account inherently carries with it a claim for payment of the amount found outstanding.
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