The Court held that where charitable trust deeds contain express winding-up provisions permitting distribution to bodies with similar purposes, a trustee in liquidation is justified in exercising its discretion to distribute remaining assets to an alternative charity rather than the named beneficiary association which is itself in liquidation and has ceased operations. The Court confirmed that on an application for judicial guidance under r 54.02, even for charitable trusts, the court's role is to assess whether the trustee is justified in its proposed course — not to substitute its own decision — and that the non-intervention principle applies absent surrender of discretion or breach of duty. The Court also held that the mere earmarking of funds in trust accounts for a special purpose (the 'David House Funds') did not establish a separate purpose trust where certainty of intention was not demonstrated.
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