Charitable and Non-Charitable Purpose Trusts (ON)

Summary

This practice note provides and overview of charitable and non-charitable purposes trusts. It discusses charitable trusts, which may be created as an inter vivos trust, or as a testamentary trust. In particular, it sets out the differences between private trusts and charitable trusts, such as their method of enforcement, as well as their advantages, which include that the rule against indefinite duration does not apply. It discusses charitable purpose trusts, to which the law accords significant advantages. More specifically, it defines what is meant by charitable purpose, including that it must actually benefit the public in general and its main purpose may not be political. Although they benefit a person indirectly, the real beneficiary in a charitable purpose trust is the purpose for which it was created. Finally, it provides a discussion of non-charitable purpose trusts, which do not enjoy the advantages of a charitable purpose trust, explains where trusts are treated as ...