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Real Law SocietyRead Law. Not Lore.

A School of the Academy

School of Trust Law & Fiduciary Administration

Department of Equity & Fiduciary Studies

Trusts, trustees, beneficiaries, and the duties of fiduciaries.

§ 0·a

The Record

Publications
5
Treatises
2
Volumes
2
Chapters
43
Articles
44
Authorities
4
Reading Lists
1
Research Collections
1
Certificates
1
Library Divisions
3

§ 0·b

Foundational Treatise

Foundations of Trust Law

The doctrinal and historical foundations of the trust relationship.

23 chapters published of 23 planned · 1 volume

  1. Volume I

    Foundations of Trust Law

    23 of 23 chapters published

Open the treatise in the Press →

§ I

Introduction

Scope of Study

Trust Law & Fiduciary Administration

The duties of a fiduciary are not opinion. They arise from the trust instrument, the governing statutes, and centuries of equity. The School studies each in turn, from the four corners of the instrument outward.

§ I·b·2

Subject Navigation

The subject architecture of this School.

Each group below is generated from the Society's own taxonomy — the Parts of the School's treatises, its editorial categories, and its Library divisions.

Foundations of Trust Law

Trust Administration and Fiduciary Duties

  • Commencement of Administration
  • Trustee Succession and Continuity of Administration
  • The Fundamental Duty to Administer the Trust
  • The Duty of Loyalty
  • The Duty of Impartiality
  • Prudent Administration
  • Trustee Compensation, Reimbursement, and Costs of Administration
  • Trustee Skills and the Standard of Care
  • Delegation by Trustees
  • Control and Protection of Trust Property
  • Recordkeeping and Identification of Trust Property
  • Enforcement and Defense of Claims
  • Collecting Trust Property
  • The Trustee's Duty to Inform and Report
  • Discretionary Powers and Fiduciary Judgment
  • General Powers of the Trustee
  • Specific Powers of the Trustee

Editorial Categories

Library Divisions

§ I·d

Research Areas

Where the work of this School is catalogued.

§ II

Philosophy of the School

On how this School reads.

A trust is a written instrument administered against settled rules of equity. The School reads the instrument first, the governing code second, and the cases that construe both as commentary. Loyalty, prudence, and impartiality are not slogans; they are duties whose contours have been worked out by courts of equity over generations.

§ III

What Students Will Study

The commitments of the School.

A School commits to a set of questions and to a method of reading them. The following are the working commitments of this department.

  1. 01

    How an express trust is created and what disturbs it

  2. 02

    The duties owed by trustees and the standards by which they are measured

  3. 03

    The powers a settlor may grant, withhold, or reserve

  4. 04

    The administration of a trust through its ordinary life

  5. 05

    The remedies available when a duty is breached

§ IV

Curriculum

The syllabus.

The syllabus is read in sequence. Foundations are not optional; advanced study presumes them.

Foundations

  1. 01

    The instrument, the settlor, the trustee, the beneficiary

  2. 02

    Intent, res, and the certainty requirements

  3. 03

    Revocable and irrevocable trusts compared

Intermediate Study

  1. 01

    The duty of loyalty and self-dealing transactions

  2. 02

    The prudent investor rule and modern portfolio theory

  3. 03

    Discretionary distributions and ascertainable standards

Advanced Study

  1. 01

    Trustee removal, resignation, and successor appointment

  2. 02

    Modification, reformation, and decanting

  3. 03

    Creditor claims and spendthrift provisions

Research & Method

  1. 01

    Reading a trust instrument against the governing code

  2. 02

    Surveying state variations on the Uniform Trust Code

  3. 03

    Tracing the equitable origins of a modern doctrine

Reference Materials

  1. 01

    Uniform Trust Code, with official commentary

  2. 02

    Restatement (Third) of Trusts

  3. 03

    Scott and Ascher on Trusts

Suggested Reading

  1. 01

    Bogert, The Law of Trusts and Trustees

  2. 02

    Langbein, The Contractarian Basis of the Law of Trusts (1995)

§ IV·b

Learning Path

A working sequence for the School.

A staged reading order — from institutional introduction through primary authority to advanced research.

  1. 01

    Introduction

    The duties of a fiduciary are not opinion. They arise from the trust instrument, the governing statutes, and centuries of equity. The School studies each in turn, from the four corners of the instrument outward.

  2. 02

    Core Treatise

    The Duties of a Trustee

    Open the treatise →
  3. 03

    Foundational Treatise

    Foundations of Trust Law — 23 chapters published in 1 volume.

    Open the series →
  4. 04

    Working Articles

    Editorial articles for this School.

  5. 05

    Primary Authorities

    Featured entries from the Legal Corpus.

  6. 06

    Reading List

    Trust Law

  7. 07

    Advanced Research

    Trust & Fiduciary Law Collection

    Open the collection →
  8. 08

    Related Schools

    Departments that read alongside this one.

§ V

Learning Outcomes

The capacities a member should leave with.

Outcomes are stated as capacities, not credentials. They describe what a member should be able to do after sustained reading.

  1. 01

    Read a trust instrument with attention to the powers it grants and withholds

  2. 02

    Identify the duties a trustee owes and the standards by which performance is judged

  3. 03

    Trace a fiduciary question from instrument to statute to controlling case

§ VI

Primary Authorities

The texts the School takes seriously.

Authorities are listed by category. Entries marked in preparation are catalogued and reviewed before they enter the working record.

Statutes

2 entries

  • Authority

    Uniform Trust Code (2000, as amended)

  • Authority

    State enactments of the Uniform Trust Code

Judicial Opinions

1 entry

  • In Preparation

    Forthcoming — catalogue in preparation

Treatises & Restatements

3 entries

  • Authority

    Restatement (Third) of Trusts

  • Authority

    Scott and Ascher on Trusts

  • Authority

    Bogert, The Law of Trusts and Trustees

§ VII

Featured Publications

From the press of the institution.

The following volumes are drawn from, or supply, the work of this School. Each is reviewed by faculty before publication.

The Society Press

All publications →

§ VII·b

From the Press

Articles associated with this School.

Editorial articles tagged to the subjects of this School, drawn from the Real Law Society Press.

§ VII·c

Certificates

Programs of study associated with this School.

Certificate programs of the Academy that draw on the reading of this School.

  • Certificate · Intermediate

    Certificate in Trust & Fiduciary Practice

    The duties of a fiduciary studied from the trust instrument, the governing code, and the controlling equitable doctrine.

§ VII·d

Reading Room

Reading lists of this School.

Curated sequences of primary reading maintained in the Reading Room.

  • Reading List

    Trust Law

    The Uniform Trust Code and the Restatement (Third) of Trusts — settlement, administration, fiduciary duty, beneficiary rights, modification, and termination — with state-law variations noted.

§ VII·e

Research Collections

Working collections of this School.

  • Collection

    Trust & Fiduciary Law Collection

    The law of trusts, fiduciary duty, and the administration of estates.

§ VII·f

Legal Corpus

Authorities catalogued for this School.

Entries drawn from the Real Law Society Legal Corpus that supply the primary reading of this School.

  • restatement

    Restatement (First) of Property

  • restatement

    Restatement (Third) of Property: Servitudes

  • restatement

    Restatement (Third) of Property: Mortgages

  • restatement

    Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers

§ VII·g

Authors

Contributors to this School.

  • Journal · Author

    Faculty of the School of Trust Law

§ VII·h

From the Journal

Institutional news associated with this School.

  • Journal

    A Review of the Restatement (Third) of Trusts

    A review of the Restatement (Third) of Trusts read against the Uniform Trust Code and the leading appellate authority. The review treats the work as a continuing project rather than a settled text.

  • Journal

    The Uniform Trust Code at Twenty-Five

    Twenty-five years after promulgation, the Uniform Trust Code has been enacted, with variations, in a substantial majority of the states. The article surveys the enactments, the principal non-uniform amendments, and the doctrinal questions that remain unsettled.

  • Journal

    Loyalty, Prudence, Impartiality

    The standing duties of a trustee are usually catalogued separately. The article reads loyalty, prudence, and impartiality together, and argues that the three are mutually constitutive rather than independent.

  • Journal

    Surcharge and Removal: The Remedy as a Record

    A research note on the equitable remedies of surcharge and removal as remedies of record. The note argues that the procedural posture in which each is sought is constitutive of the remedy itself.

§ VIII

Research in the Library

Where this School reads.

The divisions below carry the primary materials this School draws on. The catalogue opens in stages as the index is reviewed.

  • Library Division

    Statutes

    Codified federal and state statutory law, organized by title and chapter.

  • Library Division

    Judicial Opinions

    Selected opinions of the federal and state courts of record.

  • Library Division

    Treatises

    Restatements, hornbooks, and reference works of accepted authority.

Catalogue · XI Divisions

Enter the Research Library →

§ IX

Related Schools

Departments that read alongside this one.

Doctrine does not respect departmental boundaries. The following Schools take up adjacent questions.

§ X

Timeline

Recent activity of this School.

The institutional record — publications, articles, primary authorities, and journal notices — in date order.

  1. 2026

    Press · Article

    Historical Development of Anglo-American Property Law
  2. 2026

    Press · Article

    The Trustee's Fundamental Duty to Administer the Trust
  3. 2026

    Press · Article

    The Trustee's Duty of Loyalty
  4. 2026

    Press · Article

    The Trustee's Duty of Impartiality
  5. 2026

    Press · Article

    Prudent Administration
  6. 2026

    Press · Article

    Trustee Compensation, Reimbursement, and Costs of Administration
  7. 2026

    Press · Article

    Trustee Skills and the Standard of Care
  8. 2026

    Press · Article

    Delegation by Trustees

§ XI

Continue Research

Next reading for this School.

A short standing recommendation drawn across the institutional record.

Publication

The Duties of a Trustee

Authority

Restatement (Third) of Property: Servitudes

Reading List

Trust Law

Research Collection

Trust & Fiduciary Law Collection

§ XI

Browse This Subject

Where to continue in the institution.

Each gateway opens the family surface in which this School's records are catalogued.

Admission

Join the founding cohort of the Trust Law & Fiduciary Administration department.

All Founding Members are admitted into every School. Tuition and dues are not yet open.

Submit an ApplicationReturn to the Academy →
The Real Law Society · Est. MMXXVRead Law. Not Lore.Vol. I — Folio I