NOT QUITE A BENEFICIARY OF A TRUST: NO LOCUS STANDI FOR ORDER TO SEE ACCOUNTS
N and Others v Maluleke N.O and Others (5983/2021) [2022] ZAGPPHC 911 (25 November 2022)
There are many permutations in trust deeds regarding the way in which the beneficiaries shall be identified. In the trust deed relevant to this matter, the trustees were given an absolute discretion to choose beneficiaries from a certain list.
If you are on this list and not identified by trustee resolution as a beneficiary, would you nonetheless have a right to ask that the bank accounts of the trust had to be frozen and the trust accounting records provided to you? No, said the Court here, as the applicant had no locus standi in this event. (The judgment is a good reminder too of how powerful a tool a trust deed is. Trust founders should ensure that their legitimate wishes are correctly recorded therein and a court will give effect thereto.)
The Judgment
Summary of the Judgment
ABSENCE OF SPOUSE’S CONSENT FOR BANK LOAN: WHAT NOW?
Rooplal N.O. v Pelesa (22424/2019) [2023] ZAGPPHC 1 (10 January 2023)
This judgment is a reminder that if someone seeks to apply for a loan, ticks a box in the application form stating “unmarried” and signs an affidavit to that effect, he cannot cry foul afterwards because his spouse’s consent was not obtained as required in terms of the law. The lending bank in this judgment showed that it performed its own internal checks and that there was no information to indicate that the borrower was married. The borrower’s claim that the loan was invalid, was accordingly rejected.
