Skip to content
Round Logo — Smalller size
Wills, Trusts, & Estates Prof Blog
Formerly Hosted by the Law Professor Blogs Network

‘Looking Through’ Trusts in Relationship Property Redistribution Regimes: A Comparative Perspective

By Gerry W. Beyer

Adam S. Hofri-Winogradow (Peter A. Allard School of Law, the University of British Columbia) and Mark J. Bennett (Victoria University of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka – Faculty of Law) recently published, ‘Looking Through’ Trusts in Relationship Property Redistribution Regimes: A Comparative Perspective, 2024. Provided below is an Abstract:

Debate over whether and how to look through discretionary trusts in the context of Relationship Property Redistribution Regimes is long-standing, and often pits those arguing for the upholding of trusts law orthodoxy against others who support more expansive look-through that captures functional or substantive ownership. This article shows that each side can find support in the laws of different jurisdictions; minimalists can point to NZ, and maximalists can point to England and Australia, with Canadian and US non-DAPT jurisdictions falling in between with their expanded definitions of property and unique approach to self-settled trusts (respectively). It is ultimately a normative question of what discretionary trust interests should be included within RPRR pools.