retirement and removal of trustees

A trusteeship may be ended in the following ways:

• a. By the trust instrument where it provides expressly for the retirement or resignation of trustees. Davis v. Richards and Wallington Industries [1990] 1 W.L.R. 1511.
• b. By statutory provisions.
• c. By consent of the beneficiaries where the beneficiaries of full age consent to such retirement.
• d. By court order where the trustee may not have been able to retire by the aforementioned ways. However, the court will not exercise the power to retire a trustee where the trust will be left without a trustee although in such a case the court could order the transfer of the trust property into court with the object that the trust will be administered by the court; this leaves the trustee in office but relieves him of all the problems of administering the trust.

The ways which a trustee can be removed are as follows:

• a. By the trust instrument where it expressly provides that a trustee may be removed for any specific reason.

• b. A trustee may be removed from his trusteeship if he has become senile or can no longer exercise good judgment by reason of old age. Re East (1873) 8 Ch, App. 735.

• c. A trustee can be removed if he is found to be unfit to act by virtue of being declared bankrupt or where he has absconded.

• d. A trustee could be removed from office under the following statutory grounds:

• 1. If a trustee remains out of Nigeria for more than twelve months.
• 2. By refusing to act.
• 3. On grounds of incapacity to act.
• 4. By an order of the court where the continued stay of the trustee in office will be prejudicial to the trust. Adeseye v. Williams [1964] 2 All N.L.R 37.