Equity and Trust, Supporters of Elfed Hospital - Essay Example

Equity and Trust Equity is the given to the whole area of the legal system in countries following the English common law tradition that resolves disputes between persons by resort to principles of fairness and justness. Equity comes into play typically when none of the parties to the dispute has done anything against the law, but their rights or claims are in conflict. (en.wikipedia). In the case discussed , we see a similar situation whereby Neil, owner of Neil & Co Ltd, prior to his death left a will stating few gifts to different organizations. However area of conflict had arisen in the proper disposition of these gifts. A detailed description of Neil’s will and the circumstances related to each of the term stated in the will may prove to be helpful in resolving the conflict. Neil’s will states the following terms : -> 30,000 to be given to the “Supporters of Elfed Hospital” as a gift -> 60,000 to be gifted to the “Friends of Thomas Hospital” and -> 400,000 to be used to provide benefits to the inhabitants of Elfed and special privilege to be given to the employees of Neil & Co Ltd and their families. Discussing each of the terms in details would give a clear view of the scenario and will also be helpful in advising the executors of Neil on the probable terms of the declarations made. -> 30,000 to be gifted the “Supporters of Elfed Hospital” A view on the history behind the relationship between Neil and Elfed Hospital reveals that the main factory of Neil & Co Ltd. is situated in the village of Elfed. There is every possibility that considering this fact Neil had included this term in his will, for gifting 30,000 to the “supporters” of Elfed hospital. Though he mentioned the term “supporters” and as such there is no legal declaration or discrimination for this particular term, it could be well assumed that the main intention behind mentioning this in the will is to provide welfare in terms of monetary benefits to the Elfed hospital and not in particular to any supporters or volunteers or anyone specific as such. Moreover there are no legal formalities or terms binded upon the term supporters. Well this term could even be assumed to be the well wishers or support providers or benefit providers and beneficiaries of the hospital. On the other hand it is stated that Elfed Hospital has no “Supporters” group, although the Elfed Volunteer Society, a registered charity, point out that their members do much visiting to the hospital. Well here it is to be noted that the intention behind Neil mentioning such a gift to the Elfed Hospital in his will and the main purpose of Elfed Volunteer society is the same i.e., providing benefits to the hospital by possible means. Elfed Volunteer Society is a registered charitable organization, i.e, it abides by all the laws and legal formalities of the state. Thus in no way is it possible for this organization to misuse the funds being provided to them. The gift mentioned in Neil’s will related to Elfed Hospital could be properly disposed to the Elfed Volunteer society. -> “60,000 to the Friends of Thomas Hospital” Although there is no particular evidence which determines the relationship shared between Neil and Thomas Hospital, yet it could be assumed that again the main intention behind providing such gift is to provide benefits to the Thomas Hospital. Neil in his will had mentioned the amount of 60,000 to be gifted to the Friends of Thomas Hospital , a registered charity organization with the main aim of providing benefits to the hospital. However it is to be noted, now that the charity “Friends of Thomas Hospital” has closed down the area of conflict arises here. In his will Neil had clearly mentioned that the money is to be gifted to the charity organization “Friends of Thomas Hospital” and no further details have been mentioned for any foreseen or unforeseen circumstances related to this organization. Though the funds of the ‘Friends of Thomas hospital” were transferred by a Charity Commissioners scheme to ‘Hospital support” a registered charity with the main purpose of raising funds for other medical charities still in this case the funds gifted by Neil could not be provided to the charity firm “Hospital support” as there are a large number of legal obligations hindering this. The main purpose of both the parties is the same i.e., providing welfare in terms of monetary benefits to the needy but legal obligations obstructs the funds gifted by Neil to be handed over to the “Hospital Support”. This amount had to be withheld by Neil & Co Ltd as the will does not support this. -> 400,000 to be used to provide benefits to the inhabitants of Elfed and special privilege to be given to the employees of Neil & Co Ltd and their families Neil had mentioned in his will the gift amount 400,000 to be used for the inhabitants of Elfed and privilege to be given to the employees of Neil & Co Ltd. It is highly evident that Neil had been highly considerate for the inhabitants of Elfed, the basic reason being a large number of employees working in his company Neil & Co. Ltd are the inhabitants of Elfed which could be concluded from the fact that the main factory of Neil & Co Ltd is situated in Elfed. He had also mentioned while defining this term that the amount is to be utilized to provide medical facilities to the inhabitants of Elfed to whomever the trustees feel appropriate or deserving and he further includes that favorable consideration should be given to the employees of Neil & Co Ltd and their families. The privilege of deciding who to be benefited is provided to the trustees with a single condition of giving more preference to the employees and their families working in the firm. As this term is laid down clearly and is not binded with any unforeseen circumstances or situations there is no scope for conflict present. Henceforth this amount could be properly utilized as per the terms laid down in the will. The major responsibility lies with the trustees in determining and providing medical benefits to the deserving inhabitants of Elfed. However they have to keep this in mind while taking any decision that preference is to be given to the employees and their families of Neil & Co Ltd. The executors of Neil’s will are seeking declarations as to the – -> proper disposition of gifts and -> determining if the gift is charitable in nature. In order to advise the executors of Neil’s will the probable terms of these declarations considering all the circumstances, it is highly advisable to describe each of these descriptions in details. -> proper disposition of gifts: - Here, again the different terms mentioned in the will is to be considered. Based on the terms and the circumstances revolving those terms the gifts can be disposed. As in, the first term declares the giving of 30,000 to the supporters of Elfed Hospital. However , there is no such thing specific like the supporters of Elfed Hospital but there is a charity organization, Elfed Volunteer society which is claiming for these funds as they are working to provide benefits to the inhabitants of Elfed and are the daily visitors of the Elfed Hospital. The main intention of Neil behind providing this monetary gift is to provide welfare to the Elfed hospital, similarly, providing welfare to the Elfed Hospital is one of the primary activities of Elfed Volunteer Society, Since the main purpose of both the parties involved is the same i.e., providing benefits to the Elfed hospital and furthermore as there no legal considerations or legal obligations abided on these, it is mandatory for the executors of Neil’s will to properly dispose the gift amount worth 30,000 as mentioned in the Neil’s will to the Elfed Volunteer society. Similarly when the second declaration of the will is considered the executors should proceed with a different action plan. In the Neil’s will the second declaration was to provide 60,000 to the “Friends of Thomas Hospital”. Area of conflict arises in the situation as Thomas Hospital has been closed down and the all the funds of the Friends of Thomas Hospital, are transferred by a charity commissioner scheme to “Hospital Supports” a registered charity whose purpose is purely that of fund raising for other medical charities. Because Neil had clearly mentioned in his will the name of the charity organization as Friends of Thomas Hospital and no further terms or conditions has been mentioned to overcome unforeseen circumstances, there is every possibility of legal obligations to obstruct the activity of transfer of funds to the “Health Support” in lieu of “Friends of Thomas Hospital” thus, it is not advisable to the executors of Neil’s will to dispose this amount to Health Support. Instead, this amount is to be withheld by the Neil & Co. Ltd. The third declaration mentioned in Neil’s will is to provide 400,000 to the inhabitants of the Elfed to be used for medical benefits; favorable considerations in the use of such benefits shall be given to the employees of Neil & Co. Ltd. and their families. As this terms clearly laid down in the will explaining the required conditions and because there is no uncertainty in the situation, the executors of Neil’s will are liable dispose this gift to the trustees mentioned by Neil in his will. -> Whether Gift is Charitable in Nature Neil in his will had laid down certain declarations as to provide a good sum of money to different charity organizations. A major part of this money is to be provided to the inhabitants of the Elfed. A high possibility of Neil’s intention behind providing such a huge amount to Elfed is because the mail factory of Neil & Co. Ltd. is situated in Elfed and it could be well assumed that a large number of employees working in Neil & Co. Ltd is inhabitants of Elfed. Moreover, Neil had mentioned the term “Supporters of Elfed Hospital”. With this it could be clearly deprived that the main intention of Neil was to provide support to the hospital. This support could be well identified as the gift rather than charity. It is a gift being provided to all the deserving locales of Elfed. It is a gift being provided to all the Employees and their families working in Neil & Co. Ltd. thus in no way the amount gifted by Neil to Elfed Hospital and locales of Elfed could be considered as charity. However this is not the case with the “Friends of Thomas Hospital”. Neil was aware of the fact that Friends of Thomas Hospital is a charitable organization. As a matter of fact any kind of monetary or non monetary benefits provided to the charitable organization is a charity and not a gift. However because of unforeseen circumstances and certain specific legal obligations this charity could not be made. -> Conclusion The concept of ‘equity’ arises in this case, as the rights or claims of the involved parties are facing certain areas of conflict. In this context trust refers to the duty or aggregate responsibilities of obligation that rest upon a person described as a trustee. The responsibilities are in relation to Neil’s property held by him or under his control. That property he will be compelled by a court in its equitable jurisdiction to administer in the manner lawfully prescribed by the trust instrument, or where there are no specific provisions written or oral, or to the extent that such provision is invalid or lacking, in accordance with equitable principles. A good deal of knowledge had already been shared in order to make the executors of Neil’s will realize what actions to be taken or carried forward. REFERENCES : - -> Edwards Richard (2004) – Trusts and Equity – Foundation Studies in Law S. -> Martin Jill (2005) – Modern Equity. -> Moffat Graham (2005) – Trusts Law: Text and Materials. -> Penner J.E (2005) – The Law of Trusts -> en.wikipedia.org -> www.trustnet.com -> Bacon and Cowell - Equity and Common Law; XIII Legal Literature. Vol 8. -> Granville Harold (2003) – Equity & Modern Equity. Read More