The X Trusts and the "wider" implications for the trusts industry

Matthew Paton

On 19 March 2026 the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in A and 6 Others v C and 13 Others (Bermuda) [2026] UKPC 11 ("Re the X Trusts") handed down its decision on appeal from the Court of Appeal of Bermuda. The appeal settled a question that had divided practitioners, commentators and courts for the better part of two decades: where a trust instrument requires the consent of a protector before the trustees may exercise a power, but says nothing about how the protector is to decide whether to consent, what is the protector's default role?