Fiduciary Duties

Produced in partnership with Keith Bruce-Smith of Sinclair Gibson LLP and Oliver Bishop of Sinclair Gibson LLP

Practice notes

Fiduciary Duties

Produced in partnership with Keith Bruce-Smith of Sinclair Gibson LLP and Oliver Bishop of Sinclair Gibson LLP

Practice notes

This Practice Note covers identifying a Fiduciary, Fiduciary duties and obligations, the no conflict rule, the no profit rule, the fiduciary’s duty of confidentiality and what remedies are available for breach of fiduciary duty.

Who is a fiduciary?

There is no comprehensive list of the relationships which give rise to the existence of fiduciary duties under Common law. Some relationships are automatically fiduciary, eg those between trustee and Beneficiary, solicitor and client, principal and agent, business partner and co-partners, mortgagor and mortgagee.

The duties of some fiduciaries have been codified, for example, the statutory duty of skill and care which is imposed upon trustees by section 1 of the Trustee Act 2000 (TrA 2000) and the relationship between company directors and the company under the Companies Act 2006. For information in relation to the fiduciary duties of directors, see Practice Note: Fiduciary duties of directors.

In Bristol and West Building Society v Mothew, Millet LJ described a fiduciary as

‘A fiduciary is someone who has undertaken to act for and on

Keith Bruce-Smith

Partner, Sinclair Gibson LLP

Keith Bruce-Smith is a highly experienced private client trust and tax lawyer.��He has over 40 years’ experience in the area of trust and estate planning for wealthy UK and foreign families and has a well-earned reputation for his innovative approach in advising clients.

He is listed as a leading specialist in Chambers & Partners and is ranked in the Legal 500 ‘Hall of Fame’.

Oliver Bishop

Solicitor, Sinclair Gibson LLP

Oliver trained at Sinclair Gibson and qualified into the private client team in February 2019.

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Oliver works with the partners in the department to advise clients on a wide range of private client matters, including succession planning and the restructuring of estates post-death; advising beneficiaries and trustees on the UK trust and tax issues of both onshore and offshore trust structures; and advising on both the creation and administration of charitable trust structures. Oliver also has experience with dealing with a wide range of contentious matters relevant to the firm’s work, including litigation in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Court of Protection.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Fiduciary definition

What does Fiduciary mean?

A person, or entity, who acts for the benefit and on behalf of another person or group of persons. A fiduciary holds a legally enforceable position of trust.

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