SQE1 Trusts (FLK2): what is tested and how to revise it

What is tested in SQE1 Trusts?

Trusts Law is an FLK2 subject covering the creation of trusts, beneficial entitlement, trustees’ duties and powers, liability, equitable remedies and tracing. It also includes charitable and purpose trusts, resulting trusts, family-home disputes and liability of people outside the trust. (SRA, FLK2 specification) The SRA blueprint allocates 14–20% of FLK2 to Trusts Law. (SRA, SQE1 Annex 4) Revise by identifying the property, the parties’ interests, the relevant duty and the outcome sought.

How are Trusts questions assessed?

SQE1 is closed book and uses single best answer questions with five options and one correct answer. You apply fundamental rules to realistic client situations at the level of a newly qualified solicitor. Questions can combine FLK2 subjects, and Ethics and Professional Conduct runs throughout the assessment.(SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification) The blueprint classifies a question by its main focus, so its percentage range does not limit every use of Trusts knowledge. (SRA, SQE1 Annex 4) From the January 2027 sitting, Trusts Law questions appear in FLK2 session 1, mixed in random order with Wills and the Administration of Estates, Solicitors Accounts in the wills context and Land Law; the blueprint proportions do not change. (SRA announcement, 10 September 2026)

Read for the client’s objective: establishing an interest, authorising a payment or recovering property. Identify the legal issue before comparing answers. Our single best answer guide gives a practice routine.

What does the SRA Trusts syllabus cover?

Use these groups as a revision checklist, alongside the full specification. They summarise its scope rather than predict which topics will appear. (SRA, FLK2 specification)

Express trusts: creation and constitution

Start with certainty about intention, trust property and beneficiaries, including the different requirements for fixed and discretionary trusts. Then cover formalities and constitution of lifetime trusts. The specification includes exceptions to the principle that equity will not assist a volunteer, naming Re Rose, Strong v Bird and Choithram v Pagarani. (SRA, FLK2 specification) In revision, separate what the settlor intended from the documents and transfer steps actually completed. For each exception, record its conditions and the fact that would prevent it applying.

Beneficial entitlement

Cover fixed, discretionary, vested and contingent interests, together with the rule in Saunders v Vautier. (SRA, FLK2 specification) Draw a timeline showing the beneficiaries, any condition attached to an entitlement and when enjoyment begins. Practise identifying every relevant interest before considering whether beneficiaries can bring a trust to an end. Keep questions about entitlement separate from questions about trustees’ powers to make payments.

Charitable, purpose and resulting trusts

Revise the distinction between charitable trusts and non-charitable purpose trusts. Separately, cover automatic and presumed resulting trusts. (SRA, FLK2 specification) Build comparison notes around the purpose, intended beneficiaries and destination of the beneficial interest. When reviewing a resulting-trust problem, identify the reason for the claim before applying a presumption to the facts.

Trusts of the family home

The syllabus covers common intention constructive trusts where legal title is held jointly or by a sole owner, express declarations or agreements, direct and indirect contributions, and proprietary estoppel. (SRA, FLK2 specification) Record title, any ownership agreement, contributions and the conduct relied upon. Compare the requirements of constructive trusts and estoppel rather than choosing by the fairness of the outcome. Use the Land Law guide for the related co-ownership topics.

Fiduciaries and people outside the trust

Fiduciary obligations include restrictions on profits from the position, purchasing trust property and conflicts between personal interests and duties. Liability of strangers covers knowing receipt and dishonest assistance. (SRA, FLK2 specification) Keep a separate checklist for each route to liability. Identify the defendant’s role, what they received or did, and the knowledge or conduct that matters to the particular claim. Do not treat every person involved as a trustee.

Trustees: office, duties and powers

Cover eligibility, appointment, removal and retirement, the duty of care, investment duties and powers, and statutory maintenance and advancement powers. (SRA, FLK2 specification) For a proposed decision, check the trust terms and relevant statutory power before considering how it should be exercised. Organise payment questions by the beneficiary’s interest and the proposed use of income or capital. Revisit these topics alongside the Wills and estates guide.

Breach, remedies and tracing

Trustees’ liability includes breach of trust, the measure of liability, trustee protection and limitation periods. The specification also includes equitable remedies and tracing in equity.(SRA, FLK2 specification) Practise separating the alleged breach from the loss, any protection and the relief sought. For tracing, draw the movement of property through transfers, substitutions and mixed funds, then check the requirements and limits of the proposed claim.

Which distinctions deserve particular care?

• Evidence of a declaration and a disposition. Under section 53(1)(b) of the Law of Property Act 1925, a declaration of trust of land or an interest in land must be evidenced by writing signed by a person able to declare the trust, or by their will. Under section 53(1)(c), a disposition of an existing equitable interest must itself be in writing signed by the person disposing of it or an agent authorised in writing, or be made by will. Section 53(2) preserves the creation and operation of resulting, implied and constructive trusts. Identify the transaction before applying a writing requirement. (Law of Property Act 1925, s 53)
• Investment power and investment duties. Check the trust terms and statutory limits on the general investment power. Where sections 4 and 5 of the Trustee Act 2000 apply, trustees must consider suitability and appropriate diversification and periodically review investments. They must obtain and consider proper advice before exercising an investment power and when reviewing investments, unless they reasonably conclude that advice is unnecessary or inappropriate in all the circumstances. A power to invest is only the start of the analysis. (Trustee Act 2000, Part II)
• Case names and application. The SRA generally does not require recall of case names or citations, except where a case name or statutory provision normally identifies a principle, area of law, rule or procedural step.(SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification) Learn the named Trusts rules with their conditions and consequences, rather than as isolated labels.

How should you revise Trusts for FLK2?

Use a repeatable sequence. Begin with focused practice on a weak topic, then mix it with related topics once you can explain the distinctions. Treat the following as a suggested study method.

1. Map the relationship. Write down the settlor, trustees, beneficiaries, other parties and property. Mark what the question asks you to decide.
2. Recall the test. State the applicable requirements without notes. Match each requirement to a fact, and identify any exception or missing condition.
3. Commit to an answer. Choose before reading feedback. Explain why the closest competing option fails, rather than recording only the correct letter.
4. Repair the error. Check the explanation and cited authority. Record whether you confused the type of trust, an entitlement, a power, a duty or a remedy.
5. Return and mix. Revisit the issue after a gap, then practise alongside Land Law, Wills and ethics. Use fresh questions to check whether you can apply the rule in a different context.

Keep a coverage checklist against the SRA specification. A strong result on express trusts should not persuade you to skip trustee liability or tracing. Review explanations for correct guesses as well as mistakes, and add timed practice once your reasoning is reliable.

Where can you start practising?

Try the free SQE1 quick test for a starting point across subjects, then use its explanations to decide what to revisit. It is a short sample, not a complete assessment of your Trusts knowledge. The SQE1 course page shows subject coverage and the available practice tools. This guide is a revision overview, not legal advice.

High Performer Certs is an independent study platform. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), and it is not authorised or accredited by the SRA or the SQE assessment provider. The SQE and SOLICITORS QUALIFYING EXAMINATION trade marks are the property of and are used under licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.