Powers of trustees as to maintenance and accumulation
33 Powers of trustees as to maintenance and accumulation
Where property is held in trust for any person—
who is for the time being an infant; or
subject to his attaining a specified age; or
contingently upon the happening of any event, the trustee may in his discretion—
in the case of an infant, pay to the parent or guardian of the infant or to the person having the custody or control of the infant or otherwise apply for or towards the maintenance, education, benefit or advancement of the infant; or
in the case of any beneficiary not an infant, pay to that beneficiary or on his behalf or for his maintenance or benefit or to some person (selected or approved by the trustee), the whole or any part of the income of the property held in trust as aforesaid.
The power conferred by this section may be exercised at any time or from time to time in the discretion of the trustee and whether there is any other property or fund applicable for the same purpose or any person bound by law to provide and capable of providing for such infant or beneficiary or not.
The power conferred by this section shall not be capable of being exercised so as to prejudice any interest in or charge over the property which is prior to that of the infant or other beneficiary: Provided that where the interest of the infant or other beneficiary is not vested, and would not apart from the power given by this section permit any participation in the intermediate income, but such intermediate income is not specially disposed of and would pass to some other person only under a residuary or general gift of property in the instrument (if any) creating the trust or in the absence of such gift as upon intestacy or as upon a resulting trust, then the intermediate income shall be available for the exercise of the power given by this section and the interest of such person as lastly mentioned in the intermediate income shall not be deemed prior to that of the infant or other beneficiary for the purposes of this section.
To the extent that the intermediate income is not paid or applied pursuant to the power conferred by this section or otherwise the trustee may accumulate that income within the limits allowed by law by investing it and the income resulting therefrom from time to time in securities authorised by law or by the trust instrument (if any).
Such accumulations of income may in any year be paid or applied pursuant to the powers conferred by this section as if they were income arising in that year.
Notwithstanding that an infant or other beneficiary may participate in intermediate income by reason of the exercise of the power conferred by this section the trustee shall hold the accumulations or the residue thereof as an accretion to the corpus of the property from which the accumulations arose as one fund therewith for all purposes other than those hereinbefore particularised.
This section shall be deemed to apply to a vested annuity as if the annuity were income of property held by a trustee upon trust to pay that income to the annuitant for the same period as that for which the annuity is payable save that in any case accumulations as hereinbefore provided shall be held in trust for the annuitant absolutely.
This section applies only if and as far as a contrary intention is not expressed in the instrument (if any) creating the trust and shall have effect subject to the terms of that instrument and to the provisions therein contained.
This section only applies where the trust was created after the commencement of the Trustee Act Amendment
Act 1941.
Notwithstanding the repeal of section 33 of this Act as in force before the passing of the Trustee Act Amendment
Act 1941 that repealed section shall, in relation to trusts created before the passing of that Act be deemed to continue in force, and to have continued in force as if it had not been repealed.
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