The Court of Appeal revisits the rule in Hastings-Bass. Philippa James & Stuart Pickford report
On 9 March 2011 the Court of Appeal handed down a landmark decision on the scope of the so-called rule in Re Hastings-Bass, deceased [1975] Ch 25 and took the opportunity to put right what Longmore LJ described as an example of “that comparatively rare instance of the law taking a seriously wrong turn”.
The consolidated appeals in Pitt v Holt and Futter v Futter [2011] EWCA Civ 197 are the first occasion on which the Court of Appeal has comprehensively examined the scope and effect of the Hastings-Bass decision since the original judgment in that case was reported in 1975.
The Hasting-Bass rule
The Hastings-Bass rule gained momentum in Mettoy Pension Trustees Ltd v Evans [1990] 1 WLR 1587 and subsequent cases, including Sieff v Fox [2005] EWHC 1312 (Ch) where Lloyd LJ (sitting as a High Court judge) formulated it in the following terms:
“Where trustees act under a discretion given to them by the terms of the trust, in circumstances in which
