The Bill aims to change the law in relation to two areas:
The Bill aims to modernise the law.
Trusts have been in use since at least the early 17th century in Scotland. The main existing legislation on trusts is the Trusts (Scotland) Act 1921. The 1921 Act has been significantly amended making it complicated and difficult to understand.
There was some doubt on how the existing law on succession and special destinations should be interpreted. The Bill aims to clarify the existing law.
The Bill also aims to modernise the order in which people inherit. This is to reflect changes to how society understands families and the different relationships within them.
As with all Bills, the Finance and Public Administration Committee invites written evidence on the estimated financial implications of the Bill as set out in its accompanying Financial Memorandum (FM).
Read the FM for this Bill: Financial Memorandum.
The call for views on the Bill's FM closed on 26 March 2023.
The Committee received 1 submission to the call for views. Read the submission on Citizen Space.
The Committee agreed to forward the submission to the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee as part of that Committee's consideration of the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill and to take no further action.