Settlors in Canadian Trusts: some thoughts on the role

ABSTRACT This article reviews the role of the settlor of trusts in Canada and how and why trusts are often structured such that the settlor is not a controlling trustee nor a capital beneficiary of the trust. The article includes sample clauses often found in Canadian trust deeds in an effort to avoid the application of certain draconian tax rules found in the country’s tax legislation, which limit the ability for a settlor to have a meaningful role in the trust once it is established.