Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Fiduciary definition

What does Fiduciary mean? In legal practice, a fiduciary is a person or entity who undertakes to act for, and in the interests of, another, creating a relationship of trust and confidence that requires loyalty and selflessness. The scope and incidents of fiduciary duty are principally defined by case law in England & Wales and Northern Ireland and are closely aligned in Ireland; Scots law recognises equivalent fiduciary obligations notwithstanding its different doctrinal foundations. Some duties are partly codified for company directors (Companies Act 2006 (UK) and Companies Act 2014 (Ireland)), but fiduciary is otherwise a descriptive expression used across contexts. Core fiduciary duties...

Scots trust law: civilian origins, feudal conveyancing, public/charitable trusts, English influences, commercial uses, and reforms in the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024

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Practice notes

FORTHCOMING CHANGE :

The Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 received Royal Assent on 30 January 2024, signalling the first significant overhaul of Scottish trust law in more than a century since the Trusts (Scotland) Act 1921. The trust provisions still require secondary legislation from the Scottish Ministers before full commencement, whereas the succession elements took effect on 30 April 2024. The headline reforms aimed at modernisation are outlined in News Analysis: Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill passed. Practice Notes addressing Scottish trusts and succession will be updated further to reflect this new legislation...

Civilian origin of Scots trust law and fideicommissum

Scottish trust law differs from the English law of trusts in several notable respects, though Scots law has absorbed certain English concepts and terminology. A concise overview of the historical foundations of the Scots law of trust may aid understanding. In Scotland, trust law embraces both administrative and property aspects, aligning with civilian legal systems. In common with many such systems, Scots law has never acknowledged a doctrine of legal...

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Yvonne Evans

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...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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