Resulting Trusts

Interest in resulting trusts has greatly increased in recent years, spurred by academic arguments that such trusts should be seen as a response to unjust enrichment and, therefore, as capable of arising in a wider range of situations than previously understood.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the different types of resulting trust, including the purchase money resulting trust, the resulting trust arising upon a voluntary transfer of property and the ‘automatic’ resulting trust. It also examines the unclear relationship between the resulting trust and two other significant types of trust: the Quistclose trust (which arises in the commercial context) and the ‘common intention constructive trust’ (which generally arises in the family context). As well as engaging fully with the intricacies of the modern law on resulting trusts, the book also considers the history and underlying nature of resulting trusts and, drawing on the insights that emerge, offers an answer to the argument that it is appropriate to reshape the law of resulting trusts by reference to the principles of unjust enrichment.