Lessons from the Privy Council: the law of ‘inadequate deliberation’ and other trust law principles

In Ashley Dawson-Damer v Grampian Trust Co Ltd [2025] UKPC 32, the Privy Council has delivered a decision on several important doctrines applicable to conventional discretionary trusts.

The case concerned a beneficiary who said a corporate trustee had not taken her circumstances sufficiently into account when making various decisions.

Here are some of the principles referred to in the board’s decision.

The board confirmed its decision in Grand View v Wong [2022] UKPC 47 that trustees must be guided in their decision-making by the purpose of a trust [37].