Trustees are legally vested with the administration of a trust’s assets. They must manage the assets and liabilities of the trust in terms of the provisions of the trust instrument and the law, and not necessarily in a manner that pleases the beneficiaries.
Disharmony may exist in the administration of a trust but this is in itself not sufficient for the removal of a trustee.
The court held in the Gowar v Gowar case of 2016 that the “overriding question is always whether or not the conduct of the trustee imperils the trust property or its proper administration. Consequently, mere friction or enmity between the trustee and the beneficiaries will not in itself be adequate reason for the removal of the trustee from office … Nor, in my view, would mere conflict amongst trustees themselves be a sufficient reason for the removal of a trustee at the suit of another.”
This case made it clear that it is not that easy to remove a trustee, and the motivation for doing so should be sound. The court has to be certain that the removal of a trustee will be in the interests of the trust and the beneficiaries. A beneficiary’s unhappiness with a trustee, and even the inefficiency of the trustee, is not enough for a court to remove a trustee. More is required.
Special thanks to Phia van der Spuy from Trusteeze for the content of this episode.
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