The main right of the beneficiaries under a trust is their right to enjoy their interest in the trust property.

In the case of breach of a private trust, the beneficiaries may bring an action in court to force the trustees to administer the trust property in accordance with the terms of the trust. The following actions are available to them:

• They may pursue a personal action against the trustees
• They may be able to follow the trust property itself or to claim anything into which it has been converted. This is an equitable claim and the beneficiaries may try to trace the trust moneys even where the trustee has mixed it with his own money. The beneficiaries are held to have a first charge on the traced assets.

But there are limitations to this as the tracing must end where:

•  no traceable product can be found, or
•  where the trust is traced in a bona fide purchaser without notice of the trust, or
• they may be able to institute criminal proceedings against the trustees.