Applications for Authority Not Conferred by Trust Instrument
Quick Take
1The power to amend or vary a trust deed is a 'management power' within the meaning of s 178 of the Trusts Act 2025 (Qld), being a power for the management or administration of the trust, and may be conferred by the court under s 179(3) where the trust instrument contains no amendment power and the criteria in s 179(1)(a) and (b) are satisfied.
2A Queensland court has power to make orders under the Trusts Act 2025 (Qld) in respect of a trust whose proper law at settlement was that of another state, either because the trust is administered in Queensland or because the trustee is within the jurisdiction giving rise to in personam jurisdiction — though the outer limits of this principle were expressly left open.
3The insertion of a governing law clause into a trust deed that is silent as to governing law, and the extension of a vesting date to avoid significant capital gains tax, transfer duty and transaction costs, are amendments that fall within the management or administration of the trust and do not alter its substratum.
