Jersey Court rescues a charitable trust mixed with private purpose (In Re Estate of Constantin Mattas)

Article summary

Private Client analysis: In an important judgment, the Royal Court in Jersey has recently confirmed, in Representation of Equiom Trust (CI) Ltd re Estate of Constantin Mattas that, as a matter of Jersey law, where a trust looks to provide for a mix of both charitable and non-charitable purposes, the non-charitable purpose can invalidate the charitable purpose; however, if the non-charitable purpose is itself invalid, the entirety of the trust property can be held for the charitable purpose. The court's decision arose in the context of proceedings to determine whether the ultimate disposal of a testator's residuary personal estate was valid, or whether there was, in fact, a partial intestacy. In reaching its conclusions, the court considered matters such as: whether there was an intention to create a trust within a will; certainty of objects; sovereign immunity; whether trusts of indefinite duration were permissible in Jersey law prior to the enactment of the Trusts (Jersey)...