| 释义 |
constructive trustee
A person who holds title to property on constructive trust for another. He is not necessarily subject to the same duties and liabilities as the trustee of an express trust, and it is a trusteeship imposed upon him due to his conduct. Until the court concludes that a constructive trust has arisen, the constructive trustee may be unaware that he is holding the property on trust for another. An individual’s status as a constructive trustee is often established by court order or declaration long after the circumstances or conduct giving rise to the obligation of trust arose. In an institutional constructive trust the proprietary (or personal) consequences take effect from the time of the conduct or circumstance that gave rise to the trusteeship. The trustee will be under a duty to the trust, although the extent of his liability may vary from case to case, depending upon the circumstances and the property in question. Where personal liability under the duty to account has been imposed upon a fiduciary for receiving an unauthorized profit, or upon a stranger for dishonest assistance or for receiving property in breach of trust, the courts have often referred to this personal liability by way of simile as “liability to account as a constructive trustee”. This is often due to the trustee never or no longer holding the property in question, and any consequence of the funding of the trust being a personal remedy against the trustee. This use of terminology is misleading and has been criticized (Paragon Finance v D B Thakerar & Co [1999] 1 All ER 400 (CA)). |