A secret trust is a trust

Trust law

In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another...

 which arises when property is left to a person (the legatee

Legatee

A legatee, in the law of wills, is any individual or organization bequeathed any portion of a testator's estate.-Usage:Depending upon local custom, legatees may be called "devisees." Traditionally, "legatees" took personal property under will and "devisees" took land under will. Brooker v....

) under a will

Will (law)

A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...

 on the understanding that they will hold the property as trustee

Trustee

Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...

 for the benefit of beneficiaries

Beneficiary (trust)

In trust law, a beneficiary or cestui que use, a.k.a. cestui que trust, is the person or persons who are entitled to the benefit of any trust arrangement. A beneficiary will normally be a natural person, but it is perfectly possible to have a company as the beneficiary of a trust, and this often...

 who are not named in the will.

Secret trusts are divided into two types:

• Fully secret trusts, where the will is totally silent as to the existence of a trust; and
• Semi secret trusts or half secret trusts, where the will provides that the legatee is to hold the property on trusts, but does not specify the terms of the trust or the beneficiary.

Secret trusts are something of a historical anachronism. They arose because in most common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 jurisdictions, wills are public documents after they have been admitted to probate, and where the testator wishes to leave a legacy to (for example) a mistress or an illegitimate child without causing pain or embarrassment to his family, he could devise the property to a trusted person to avoid the name of the mistress or illegitimate child appearing in the will. They fall outside of the Wills Act.

Despite their rarity, secret trusts still remain a staple of many law courses at University level, as they represent a rare exception to the rule that any disposition on death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

 must be by way of a will (or a document incorporated by reference

Incorporation by reference

Incorporation by reference is the act of including a second document within another document by only mentioning the second document. This act, if properly done, makes the entire second document a part of the main document...

 into a will) which complies with the applicable statutory requirements in the relevant jurisdiction. Historically, the courts have felt it more important to uphold the rights of the putative beneficiary and to avoid the unjust enrichment

Unjust enrichment

Unjust enrichment is a legal term denoting a particular type of causative event in which one party is unjustly enriched at the expense of another, and an obligation to make restitution arises, regardless of liability for wrongdoing.Definition:...

 of the legatee than to uphold the general rule of public policy

Public policy

Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...

that property must devolve by will on death.