The Liability Of Co-trustee In The Trust Law

The trust co-trustee system is an inevitable product to meet the needs of the settlor for the diversification of trust interests.On the one hand,the system integrates the various expectations of the settlor for the trust and makes up for the arbitrariness of the single trustee system in the execution of trust affairs,so that the co-trustees supervise each other and add another layer of protection to the trust.The normative,proper and faithful performance of the trustee’s duties is the core of the trust system.How to regulate the trustee’s duties and improve the relief for the settlor’s beneficiaries after breaching duties is the legislative focus of the law.The regulation of the responsibility of the co-trustee of the trust is mainly concentrated in Articles 31 and 32 of the trust law which has not been amended and the supporting judicial interpretation has not been issued after the promulgation of the law.The law solving practical problems such as the allocation of internal responsibilities is crucial.This article is divided into the following four chapters to discuss the center of the co-trustees’responsibility.The first chapter deals with the governance problems of the trust co-trustee system.The lack of application of the system of trust co-trustee with judicial practice as the starting point.According to the different violations of legal norms by the trustee,the basis of the right of claim is different,and it needs to be identified based on tort liability,contract liability or independent liability.Secondly,it demonstrates the necessity of the continuous expansion of the application of the trust co-trustee system in practice to highlight the perfection of the trust co-trustee responsibility system.Finally,it is emphasized that the generalization of the regulation of the trust co-trustee system is the key reason for the occurrence of the above problems.The second chapter is the basic legal orientation of the co-trustee of the trust.The co-trustee system has an independent status in the trust law,and it enjoys the "power" over the trust property.The trust co-trustee jointly manages the trust property,which is different from the agent relationship and the security relationship.The third chapter is the identification standard of the trust co-trustee’s responsibility.The first section discusses the nature of the civil liability in an attempt to clarify the basis of the claim.Under the existing system,considering the cost and operability of legal transplantation,the civil liability of the trust co-trustee has the nature of breach of contract and tort liability in traditional civil law,but it still has its uniqueness.The second section is to discuss how to characterize the special situation of common behavior and disagreement.Taking the specific circumstances of breach of trust contract and breach of fiduciary duty as the starting point,discuss the specific circumstances of its civil liability.The judgment of civil liability should be dynamic,comprehensive and hierarchical.The fourth chapter discusses the liability composition of the joint and several liability of the co-trustee.According to the general judgment logic of liability.The first section is what type of liability the co-trustee.The second section is after the determination of the basis of the claim right,the legal proof of the joint and several liability of the trust co-trustee and the reflection on the current strict joint and several liability.The third part discusses the specific methods and scope of the trustees of the trust to undertake the civil responsibilities.The inherent property of a co-trustee of a trust shall vary according to the degree of fault and the object of compensation.Fourth section is the exemption of the civil liability of the joint trustees of the trust under special circumstances.The nature of trust is still the category of private law autonomy,and the possibility of party autonomy should not be deprived of the assumption of civil liability.The fifth section is the sharing of the internal responsibilities of the co-trustees of the trust.The sharing of internal responsibilities is the final link of responsibility sharing.The law cannot be all-encompassing,but it should point the way to the sharing of internal responsibilities.The overall legal transplant may not necessarily be the perfection of the trust law,and it is very likely to stifle the local development potential.The sharing of the internal responsibilities of the co-trustees of the trust should be based on the existing legal system such as the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China,and the sharing path should be constructed in combination with the characteristics of the trust law.