Role of court in application for Beddoe relief

Interesting Jersey Royal Court decision published this morning - F Trust [2017]JRC142. The Court considered that the approach taken on Beddoe applications is slightly more nuanced than the standard Public Trustee v Cooper test. The Court considered that where the substratum of the decision is the question of litigation, that is something with which the court is familiar, probably in most cases more familiar than the trustee. So, rather than simply considering whether a decision to litigate is one which a properly informed trustee acting in good faith could arrive at, the Court can exercise a more direct, inquisitorial role, and be ready to form its own judgement as to whether it is sensible for the trust estate to be put at risk by the litigation in question. This judgment developed a theme from an earlier Jersey case (C Settlement [2017]JRC035A) in which the Court took a similar approach in relation to an application by a trustee to bless its decision to settle litigation.