I began the preface to the previous edition by saying that the single major task in preparing
that edition had been to make the considerable revisions necessary as a consequence of
the provisions of the Charities Act 2006. Most of that Act has now been repealed by the
Charities Act 2011 which repealed (as will be noted in the text) in whole or in part several
other charity statutes. It has carried out a useful consolidation of the statutory law, but has
made little change of substance.
An addendum to the previous preface noted that the Perpetuities and Accumulations
Bill had received a fi rst reading in the House of Lords. It duly became an Act in 2009 and is
referred to in the text where necessary. One way in which it amended the law was by providing
that for the future the perpetuity period was to be 125 years and no other period.
Until the relevant provisions of the Equality Act 2010 came into force the position in relation
to discrimination by charities was governed by the provisions of the Race Relations
Act 1976 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. Both these Acts were repealed by the 2010
Act, which in general applies to charities, but there are some special provisions which
apply only to them. One important provision of the 2010 Act in relation to trusts has not
yet been brought into force, namely the abolition of the presumption of advancement: this
is discussed in Chapter 9.
Th e Trusts (Capital and Income) Bill, based on a Law Commission recommendation,
received its fi rst reading a few days before I was due to return the proofs. It is uncontroversial
and likely to become law in its present form. I have therefore noted it in the text, also
noting that some of its provisions have limited retrospective eff ect.
Th e Law Commission Report which deals with illegality in trusts has not yet received
a Government response. I have therefore merely noted its existence in the text, but have
summarized its provisions in an appendix