Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Variations definition

What does Variations mean? Variations are changes to the agreed works under a construction contract, instructed through the contract mechanism to alter scope, quantity, quality, design, sequence or timing. They are ordered by the employer’s contract administrator, project manager or engineer. The term is not defined by statute; its meaning stems from standard forms and case law across the UK and Ireland. A valid variation must be instructed in accordance with the contract (often in writing) and remain within the general scope of the original works; a fundamental or “cardinal” change may fall outside the contract. Variations can add to, omit from, or change...

Applications under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958: benefit test, common tax variations, alternatives, and step-by-step procedure, including parties, evidence, hearings, privacy and costs (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

The Variation of Trusts Act 1958 (VTA 1958) empowers the court to sanction alterations to a trust’s provisions on behalf of beneficiaries who cannot themselves give consent to the change at all. It is chiefly intended for the familiar circumstance in which the trust instrument contains no explicit authority empowering anyone to modify the settlement under its own terms.

Background to the Variation of Trusts Act 1958

The statute traces its origins to the decision in Saunders v Vautier, a leading case. The court there held that, where every beneficiary is an adult with capacity, they may collectively, acting unanimously, revise the trust terms as they choose if they wish to do so. Traditionally, the most typical illustration is a life tenant and a remainderman opting to divide the trust fund between them rather than maintain the settlement until the life tenant’s death. In practice, in the majority of trusts, however, the beneficiaries are unable to alter the provisions in this manner because they are not all adults with capacity at all...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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