The Perpetual Trust/Conservation Servitude Interface
Susan Fletcher French (Professor, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law) has recently released her article entitled Perpetual Trusts, Conservation Servitudes, and the Problem of the Future, 27 Cardozo L. Rev. 2523 (2006).
Here is her conclusion:
Both perpetual trusts and conservation servitudes pose special challenges to the legal system, which will require new ways of dealing with the problem of the future. Existing doctrines can be used and extended to solve many problems that are likely to arise, but more will be needed. For perpetual trusts, the beneficiaries should be given more protection by increasing their ability to terminate the trust and determine how the assets shall be used. For conservation servitudes, more attention should be given to protecting the public interest against collusive terminations by action of a developer and the servitude holder and against retention of conservation servitudes of marginal value when the land is needed for other uses of benefit to the community. Interesting work lies ahead for scholars, courts, and legislatures as they grapple with perpetual trusts, conservation servitudes, and the problem of the future.