ABSTRACT
The trust instrument may confer the authority to appoint a trustee. This is exceptional for the statutory power to appoint is generally regarded as adequate. The express authority may be general or special. A general authority is one which confers an authority to appoint trustees in any circumstances. If the person named in the instrument is willing to exercise the power, this will be decisive as to the authority to appoint trustees provided that the power is exercised in good faith. Indeed, it is doubtful whether the appointor is entitled to appoint himself for reasons stated by Kay J in Re Skeat:2
A man should not be judge in his own case ... and to appoint himself among other people, or excluding them to appoint himself, would certainly be an improper exercise of any power of selection of a fiduciary character.
