ABSTRACT
The trust is peculiar to systems of law that are based on English law; therefore, the trust is found in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India and other Commonwealth countries, but it is not indigenous to the civil code jurisdictions of Europe and elsewhere based, for example, on the Napoleonic Code Civil or the German civil code. The historical root of the trust can be explained most dramatically by reference to the so-called ‘crusades’ in which English noblemen fought and which meant that they were away from England for years at a time. The settlor drops out of the picture in her capacity as settlor at the moment when the trust is created. In ordinary circumstances, the settlor transfers the legal rights in the trust property to a trustee so that the trustee will use the trust property in accordance with the settlor’s instructions. Constructive trusts arise in a broad range of circumstances by operation of law.
