Trustees, beneficiaries and the self-dealing rule

In ‘From the courts’ on p.4 there is a note of the Court of Appeal decision in Barnsley and Others v Noble [2016] EWCA Civ 799. This was a complex case, in which claims were made against an executor alleging that he had used his position to take advantage of the beneficiaries of shares in a family company, in which the beneficiaries of the estate and the executor had interests. The High Court and the Court of Appeal rejected the claims against the executor. However, this did lead to an interesting discussion of the position and duties of an executor, and of a trustee, where his personal interests and those of the beneficiaries may conflict.