What is a constructive trust in an equitable remedy?

Alberta, Canada


The following excerpt is from Holowa Estate, 2011 ABQB 23 (CanLII):

A constructive trust in an equitable remedy, a trust imposed by law. It has been described by Lord Denning in Hussey v. Palmer, [1972] W.L.R. 1286, [1972] All E.R. 744 at p. 1290 as: [A] trust imposed by law whenever justice and good conscience require it. It is a liberal process, founded upon large principles of equity, to be applied in cases where the legal owner cannot conscientiously keep the property for himself alone, but ought to allow another to have the property or the benefit of it or a share in it.

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