Keech v Sandford

E628500

Keech v Sandford is an 18th-century English trust law case establishing the strict fiduciary duty of loyalty, holding that trustees cannot personally profit from opportunities arising from their position.

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Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf English legal case
fiduciary law case
trust law case
alsoKnownAs Keech v Sandford (Trustees’ Lease Case) NERFINISHED
appliesTo company directors
other fiduciaries
trustees
areaOfLaw equity
fiduciary duties
trust law
citationStyle Keech v Sandford (1726) Sel Cas Ch 61 NERFINISHED
coreIssue whether a trustee may renew a lease for personal benefit when the landlord refuses to renew to the trust
country Kingdom of Great Britain
court Court of Chancery NERFINISHED
decisionYear 1726
establishesPrinciple a trustee cannot take for himself an opportunity that arises from the trust property
a trustee must not profit from his position
equity’s strict approach to fiduciary conflicts of interest
fiduciary must account for profits even if beneficiary could not have obtained the benefit
strict liability for fiduciaries who make unauthorized profits
holding trustee who renews a lease for himself must hold it on trust for the beneficiary
influenced Boardman v Phipps NERFINISHED
Bristol and West Building Society v Mothew NERFINISHED
Regal (Hastings) Ltd v Gulliver NERFINISHED
involvesParty Keech NERFINISHED
Sandford NERFINISHED
involvesRole beneficiary
trustee
jurisdiction England
languageOfRecord English
leadingCaseOn conflict of interest in fiduciary relationships
fiduciary duty of loyalty
no-profit rule for trustees
legalPrincipleType no-conflict rule
no-profit rule
legalSystem common law
reasoning equity must be strict to prevent temptation for trustees to prefer their own interests
remedy account of profits
constructive trust over the renewed lease
status good law
subjectMatter lease of a market stall
renewal of lease held on trust
taughtIn English law schools
common law jurisdictions

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Court of Chancery notableCase Keech v Sandford