Ball v Ball & Anor

A beneficiary seeking an account must show that no account has been produced or that the account provided is inadequate. The beneficiary need not prove a breach of trust beyond a failure to account. An account is principally an obligation to provide information about the trust assets, their dealings and distributions, in a form and level of detail appropriate to the trust.

The court has a discretion whether to order an account, although that discretion is ordinarily exercised in favour of an account where none has been provided. In a conventional trust, the account may itself provide valuable information. The claim was dismissed because the trustees had adequately accounted through correspondence and supporting material.

The claimant, a beneficiary and co-trustee of his late father’s will trust, sought an account from two sibling co-trustees. The trust assets included shares and other interests connected with the family business. The claimant alleged that the trustees had failed to account for income and assets administered during the life tenancy of his mother.

The court considered whether the claimant had standing, whether an adequate account had been provided, and whether an account should be ordered despite the age and practical circumstances of the claim. The central issue was whether the information already supplied by the defendants constituted a sufficient account.

1. Standing and threshold. A beneficiary must show that an account has not been produced or is inadequate. It is unnecessary at that stage to establish substantive breaches of trust. An account in common form is principally the provision of information by trustees to beneficiaries.
2. Discretion. The court has a discretion whether to order an account. It will ordinarily do so where no adequate account exists, but the discretion may be exercised sparingly where an order would have no practical utility. In a conventional trust, however, information about the trust assets may itself provide a real benefit.
3. Content of an account. The trustees must explain what the assets were, what they did with them, what the assets are now, and what distributions took place. The formality and detail required depend on the size and nature of the trust.
4. Procedure. The threshold for deciding whether an account should be ordered is low. A full trial with cross-examination will not normally be required. The court should avoid disproportionate litigation, particularly in family disputes.
5. Application. The correspondence of 29 March 2018, supplemented by later correspondence and witness statements, adequately accounted for the administration of the trust. The claimant’s broader requests concerning the family company were disproportionate and did not convert an account claim into an investigation of the directors’ conduct or the value achieved for shareholders.
6. The claim was dismissed. It was unnecessary to determine the discretionary issues concerning acquiescence and practical utility, although the court observed that the life tenant had acquiesced in the relevant arrangements and that an order would serve no purpose.