Students

LAWS2500 – Equity and Trusts

2020 – Session 2, Special circumstance

Notice

As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group learning activities on campus for the second half-year, while keeping an online version available for those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.

To check the availability of face to face activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.

General Information

Download as PDF
Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor/Lecturer/Tutor
Teresa Somes
Contact via via ilearn site
Level 5, Room 539, 6 First Walk
TBA
Tutor
Dr Liza Rybak
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
LAWS216 or LAWS2200
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit builds on student's knowledge of Property Law focusing on equitable notions of property, with a particular emphasis on the law of trusts. The unit examines the historical development of equity and its relationship to common law, the assignment and other dispositions of property in equity, the obligation of confidence in equity with respect to information, and fiduciary obligations. This unit will provide students with a theoretical grounding in the relevant principles as well as equip them with the capacity to apply these principles in practice.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Critically analyse the legal doctrine and policy that underpins equity and trusts.
  • ULO2: Formulate and present oral and written arguments about equity and trusts, drawing upon relevant precedent and policy considerations.
  • ULO3: Analyse and resolve hypothetical problems, identifying legal and factual issues involving the law relating to equity and trusts.

General Assessment Information

Marking Rubrics

Detailed marking rubrics will be made available on iLearn. Markers in this unit undertake a process of 'blind marking' to establish a common marking standard and all Fail papers are double marked.

Late Submission Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests

Special Consideration

In the absence of a successful application for special consideration, any assessment task submitted after seven (7) days will not be graded and will receive a mark of zero. Applications for special consideration are made electronically via ask.mq.edu.au and should be accompanied by supporting documentation. Students should refer to the Special Consideration policy for complete details of the policy and a description of the supporting documentation required.

Word Limits

Word limits will be strictly applied and work above the word limit will not be marked.

Assessment Submission

All assessments in the unit are to be submitted electronically. Plagiarism detection software is used in this unit.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Quizzes 20% No Weeks 4 and 11
Annotated Bibliography 30% No 11 September 2020 5pm
Take Home Final Assessment 50% No 13 November 2020 1-5pm

Quizzes

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 5 hours
Due: Weeks 4 and 11
Weighting: 20%

 

Students will complete 2 quizzes during semester, one in first half of semester, one in second half.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Critically analyse the legal doctrine and policy that underpins equity and trusts.
  • Formulate and present oral and written arguments about equity and trusts, drawing upon relevant precedent and policy considerations.

Annotated Bibliography

Assessment Type 1: Annotated bibliography
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 11 September 2020 5pm
Weighting: 30%

 

Students will be required to locate and record citations on a relevant topic area and offer a descriptive and evaluative paragraph on the annotation to inform on the relevance, accuracy and quality of the sources cited.

 

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Critically analyse the legal doctrine and policy that underpins equity and trusts.
  • Formulate and present oral and written arguments about equity and trusts, drawing upon relevant precedent and policy considerations.
  • Analyse and resolve hypothetical problems, identifying legal and factual issues involving the law relating to equity and trusts.

Take Home Final Assessment

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 5 hours
Due: 13 November 2020 1-5pm
Weighting: 50%

 

The final test may cover any or all topics and materials covered in the unit.The final assessment will be a time-limited task in the form of one problem question and one essay question.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Critically analyse the legal doctrine and policy that underpins equity and trusts.
  • Formulate and present oral and written arguments about equity and trusts, drawing upon relevant precedent and policy considerations.
  • Analyse and resolve hypothetical problems, identifying legal and factual issues involving the law relating to equity and trusts.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

DELIVERY OF UNIT

Weekly Lectures (Internal and Distance Students)

Weekly lectures in this unit will be pre-recorded and available to students on iLearn. Weekly lectures will commence in Week 1 and go through to Week 12.

Weekly Seminars (Internal Students)

See ilearn

On Campus Sessions (Distance Students)

See ilearn

 

RESOURCES

Prescribed Materials

P Radan & C Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity & Trusts, (LexisNexis, 4th ed, 2019)

P Radan, C Stewart & I Vickovich, Principles of Australian Equity & Trusts, Cases & Materials, LexisNexis, 4th ed, 2019)

Other Recommended Material

Barnett & Harder, Remedies in Australian Private Law (Cambridge University Press, 2nd ed, 2018)

Dal Pont, Equity and Trusts in Australia ( Lawbook Co, 7th ed, 2019).

Evans, Equity and Trusts (LexisNexis, 4th ed, 2016)

 

Unit Schedule

Week (commencing)

Topic(s)

1   (27 July)

History, Equitable Estates and Interests

2   (3 Aug)

Dispositions in Equity I

3   ( 10 Aug)

Dispositions in Equity II

4   (17 Aug)

Fiduciary Obligations: Participants in Breach of Fiduciary Obligations

5   (24 Aug)

Confidential Information

6   (31 Aug)

Introduction to Trusts

7   (7 Sept)

Express Trusts

 

MID-SESSION BREAK

8   (28 Sept)

Duties, Powers Rights of Trustees; Breach of Trust

9   (5 Oct)

Beneficiaries; Tracing

10 (12 Oct)

Charitable Trusts

11 (19 Oct)

Resulting Trusts

12 (26 Oct)

Constructive Trusts

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct​

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

A number of changes have been introduced to the current offering of the unit, as follows:

1. A class participation component has been introduced to the assessment framework and seminar attendance has been made compulsory.

2. An annotated bibliography has been introduced as an assessment task in lieu of research essay.

3. The recommended text has been updated to a more recent edition.