Disclosure Team

Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

data.access@justice.gov.uk

Bruce Knight
request-960312-cabfe2c3@whatdotheyknow.com
24th March 2023

Dear Bruce Knight

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request 230315003 – Cestui que vie trust

Thank you for your request dated 15th March 2023 in which you asked for the
following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):

1. Can you provide information relating to the Cestui Que Vie Trust?
2. who set it up?
3. what is its sole purpose?
4. who is the beneficiary of the Cestui Que Vie Trust?
5. who is trustee of Cestui Que Vie Trust?
6. How much value is in my Cestui Que Vie Trust account?
7. who are the landlords of my Cestui Que Vie Trust estate?
8. can I legally obtain title to control my own Trust fund without interference from
the state?
9. The Cestui Que Vie Act 1666 states that when you return from beyond the
seas your remedy is to claim your property that is registered into Trust,
10. Does the cestui que vie Act form an adhesion contract that I was unaware of,
fulfilling obligations and accepting liability unknowingly as trustee of the Cestui
Que Vie Trust?

Your request has been handled under the FOIA.

The MoJ does not hold any information in the scope of your request. That is because
there is no such thing as a cestui que vie trust. However Section 16 of the FOIA
requires us to provide reasonable advice and assistance to requesters. I can answer
your questions outside of the Act:

1. The Cestui Que Vie Trust is an invention. The phrase is a mash up of two
genuine legal terms:
• “cestui que trust” which means a beneficiary under a trust, and
• “cestui qui vie”, which means a holder of a life interest in land held in a
strict settlement.
2. No-one, as it doesn’t exist.
3. It doesn’t have any lawful purpose as it doesn’t exist. It has been used from
time to time by people asserting that it means they are not liable to pay debts,
comply with court orders and so on. But there is no example reported in
England, Wales, Scotland, Canada, or the United States where this has
worked.
Some people use the idea to make money fraudulently by selling the idea to
others. For example, there are people providing spurious “common law” car
insurance who claim that the insurance they sell is backed by the holder’s
cestui que vie trust. However, since the trust is non-existent, the insurance is
not backed by any funds and the holders are driving without insurance.
So, if you have paid money to such a person, you are well advised not to pay
them anymore, as you will gain no benefit and may expose yourself to
financial or other risk.
4. If someone is selling advice about cestui que vie trusts or a financial product
on the basis that it is backed by the customer’s cestui que vie trust (see
question 3), that person benefits. Otherwise it has no benefit.

5. No-one

6. £0.

7. No-one

8. No, as it doesn’t exist.

9. The Act relates to settled land, i.e. land which is covered by a “strict
settlement”, usually made in a will. Settlements were important in landholding
in England and Wales for several centuries but have been of declining
importance in the last 100 years and no new ones can be created after 1997.
The Act states that if a person, P, with a life interest in settled land, has been
missing for seven years (whether beyond the seas or elsewhere), and a
reversioner (i.e. a person who has an interest in the estate after P’s death)
goes to court, the court must presume P to be dead. This means that the
reversioner inherits the estate in accordance with the terms of the settlement.
The Act goes on to deal with what happens if P later turns up clearly alive. In
such a case, the estate returns to them.
The Act may also refer to life leases, i.e. a lease which lasts until the death of
the leaseholder – again disappearance prevents the land reverting back to the
landlord.
But this only applies if P had a life interest in an estate or lease before their
disappearance. It doesn’t create a life interest. You can see for yourself by
going to the source and reading the Act (it’s quite short) here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Cha2/18-19/11/contents.

10. No.

2
Appeal Rights

If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to request an internal
review by responding in writing to one of the addresses below within two months of
the date of this response.

data.access@justice.gov.uk
Disclosure Team, Ministry of Justice,

You do have the right to ask the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to
investigate any aspect of your complaint. However, please note that the ICO is likely
to expect internal complaints procedures to have been exhausted before beginning
their investigation.

Yours sincerely

David Barnes
Legal Operations Team