Resulting trust

A resulting trust is an implied trust that comes into existence by operation of law, where property is transferred to a volunteer (i.e. someone who does not give consideration) and then is implied to hold the property for the benefit of another person.

The trust property is said to "result" or revert to the transferor (as an implied settlor). This use of "result" means spring back. Although the volunteer may be the legal owner of the property, they are not permitted to benefit from it, with beneficial ownership being retained by the transferor. Where the transferor has died, the beneficial interest results to their estate.

The courts have implied the existence of resulting trusts in a number of situations. For example, a "presumptive" resulting trust can arise where an apparent gift (i.e. a transfer of an asset made without adequate consideration) has been made, such that it is presumed that the transferor did not actually intend to make a gift and that the asset must result to the transferor. Depending on jurisdiction, the presumption may also be inapplicable in transfers between spouses.