Reviewed by Keith Wallace

What is the relevance of this work to common-law trust lawyers? The answer is: a surprising amount. Starting in the 1970s, novel trust-related questions have been posed by UK pension schemes; and judicial interest has been engaged and deployed. Concepts have been refined and, indeed, continue to develop, now aided by a bench possessing good pre-judicial familiarity with the pensions industry.

Pension ‘mistakes’ have a longer life and a wider reach than ordinary trust errors. They might involve 200,000 beneficiaries who, over time, enter and exit entitlement and there is little effective ‘limitation’ to close off problems. Indeed, the winding-up process triggers an in-depth retro‑inquisition extending over the entire scheme life. Skeletons, which the parties agreed at the time to bury, have to be exhumed and resuscitated.

So, the corrective toolbox the author describes has been assembled to solve a complex and varied array of problems often involving themes met in family and wealth-protective trusts. Consider the tools called corrective construction, severance and rectification: how do they overlap? Which do you use first?