Variation of trusts—Scotland

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
Produced in partnership with Yvonne Evans of University of Dundee
Practice notes
Scottish Law

Variation of trusts—Scotland

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

Produced in partnership with Yvonne Evans of University of Dundee

Practice notes
Scottish Law
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FORTHCOMING CHANGE: The Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 received Royal Assent on 30 January 2024, marking the first review of trusts law in Scotland in over 100 years since the principal legislation, the Trusts (Scotland) Act 1921, was passed. The trusts provisions will require secondary legislation from Scottish Ministers to be brought into force whereas the provisions relating to succession law will come into effect on 30 April 2024. The main changes to modernise the law are summarised in News Analysis: Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill passed. Practice Notes on areas of Scottish trusts and succession law will be updated further to reflect this new legislation.

Under the common law, the opportunities for varying the terms or purposes of a trust are very limited once the trust has taken effect. If the trust is an Inter vivos trust and is revocable, the Truster can alter its terms at any time so long as they are Sui juris. But the majority of inter vivos trusts are irrevocable once the trust has been

Yvonne Evans
Yvonne Evans

Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Dundee

Yvonne is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Dundee, specialising in Scots trusts and succession and tax law, particularly capital taxes. She became a full-time lecturer in 2013, having tutored revenue law at the University of Edinburgh since 2004.

Before she became a full-time academic, Yvonne trained as a solicitor at Brodies in Edinburgh. She then worked as a solicitor in the Private Client department at Anderson Strathern, progressing to Associate with a Professional Support Lawyer role.

Yvonne authored the reissue of the Trusts, Trustees and Judicial Factors section of the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia of the Laws of Scotland published in 2016. She is a member of the Law Society of Scotland's Tax Law and Trusts & Succession Law sub-committees. She has given evidence to the Scottish Parliament Finance and Constitution committee regarding its devolved tax powers. She represented the Law Society of Scotland at the House of Commons APPG on Inheritance and Intergenerational Fairness and has given evidence to the House of Lords Finance Committee. She has also advised the Scottish Government on trusts for vulnerable recipients of compensation awards, and The Scottish Charity Regulator regarding charitable legacies.

From 2014 to 2019, Yvonne was a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners' Scotland branch committee and founded the STEP Dundee Discussion forum. She is currently the examiner for the STEP Diploma, Trust Law (Scotland) module.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Inter vivos trust definition
What does Inter vivos trust mean?

A trust created to take effect in the lifetime of the settlor.

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