What is the test for establishing a resulting trust?

Alberta, Canada


The following excerpt is from Miller v. Gillman, 2006 ABQB 266 (CanLII):

In this case, even without relying on the presumption, I am satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to establish the existence of a resulting trust. In arriving at this conclusion, I recognize that I must find that a resulting trust was the intention of the parties. The following comments from the British Columbia Supreme Court in DeLeeuw v. DeLeeuw, [2003] B.C.J. No. 2284, 2003 BCSC 1472 at para. 59 provide an apt summary: Resulting trusts, like express trusts, are grounded in the settlor’s intent. For resulting trusts, that intent is inferred from the circumstances of the case. The minority decision of Mr. Justice Dickson in Rathwell v. Rathwell, 1978 CanLII 3 (SCC), [1978] 2 S.C.R. 436, 83 D.L.R. (3d) 289, is the leading case on the issue of intention. Mr. Justice Dickson stated that the essential element of a resulting trust is “a common intention manifested by acts or words that property is acquired as a trustee” (at 452).

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