TRUST PROPERTY: A LEGAL LINK BETWEEN TRUST PROPERTY AND TRUSTEE UNDER THE NIGERIAN LEGAL SYSTEM

TRUST PROPERTY: A LEGAL LINK BETWEEN TRUST PROPERTY AND TRUSTEE UNDER THE NIGERIAN LEGAL SYSTEM

ABSTRACT

According to the Blacks law dictionary, 6th edition trust property is defined as any money or property set aside as a trust for the benefit of another and held by a trustee. The trustee is the person vested with the right to hold property in trust on behalf of another called the beneficiary. The essence of trust relationship is to enable a testator/ settlor who own a legal estate to be able to cater for his immediate family members or his dependants after his demise. For a trust relationship to be properly constituted, the trust property must be vested in the trustee. The legal link between the trustee and the trust property is the act of vesting the trust property in the trustee. Where this has been properly done, the trustee will be able to deal with the trust property accordingly. A beneficiary can only lay claim to a trust property that has been properly vested in the trustee. Hence the necessity of examining the legal link between the trust property and the trustee under the Nigerian legal system is sine qua non in order to be able to establish the scope of the operation of trustees in administering trust property under a trust relationship.