1. Of their estate.
Whenever a trust is created, it is a general rule that a legal estate, sufficient for the purposes of the trust, shall, if possible, be implied; and also that the legal estate limited to trustees shall not be construed to extend beyond what the purposes of the trust require. Thus the court has in many cases extended the estate, so as to make it commen surate with the objects to be effected, and even supplied the estate when it was altogether wanting. (1 Yes. 495.) On the other hand, the court has frequently restricted the estate which trustees would have taken by the wording of the instrument. (7 T. It. 433.) But these rules, so far as they relate to devises, must now be considered with reference to the 1 Vict. c. 26, by the 30th section of which it is declared that where any real estate, other than a presentation to a church, is devised to a trustee or executor, such devisee shall be eon ttrued to pass the whole estate which the testator had power to dispose of in the property, unless a definite term of years, absolute or determinable, or an estate of freehold, be thereby given to him expressly or by implication.
The legal estate vested in a trustee has in general the same pro perties and incidents as if the trustee were the beneficial owner. Thus it is liable to curtesy, dower, and free-bench, and at the common law it was subject to forfeiture to the king and escheat to the lord; but the law is now altered, and the devolution of such estates is not affected by the attainder or conviction of the trustee or mortgagee. The legal estate in the property, whether real or personal, may be conveyed or assigned by the trustee, who may likewise devise or bequeath it by his will, though trust-estates will not always pass•in a will by the same words as other property, and the question in each case is one of presumed intention. (8 Yes. 417.) 2. Of the general properties of the office of trustees.
Acceptance of the office by a trustee may either be by express declaration or be implied from his proceeding to perform the duties of It. No general rule can be laid down as to what particular acts will constitute an acceptance of the office by a trustee, which is a question to be determined by the circumstances of the particular case : it may, however, be stated generally that every voluntary interference with the trust-estate will be construed as an acceptance of the trust; and that where a trustee acts ambiguously he will not be allowed after wards to take advantage of the doubt, and deny that he acted in the character of trustee. (2 Vea. Jun. 678; 1 Yes. 552.) But as no one is compellable to undertake a trust, it is in the power of the person appointed a .trustee to renounce the office by what is called a disclaimer, which, if he intend to decline the office, he ought to execute without delay. A disclaimer ought to be made by deed, and should purport to be a disclaimer, and not a conveyance, which, as it transmits the estate, would, strictly speaking, imply a previous acceptance of the trust, though instruments of this kind receive a liberal construction. (2 Swanst. 372; 2 M. & K. 278.)
The general properties and qualities of the trustee's office may be stated under the following heads : (1.) A trustee having once accepted his office cannot afterwards renounce it. The only modes by which he can be released are a decree of a court of equity, a power reserved on the instrument creating the trust, or the consent of all the persons beneficially interested in the estate. (2 Sch. and Let 245.) (2.) The office of trustee, which implies personal confidence, cannot be delegated (2 Yes. 640), though a trustee may sometimes perform a mere ministerial duty through an attorney or proxy. (1 Ares. 413.) „...(3.) When there are several trustees, the administration of the estate is vested in all ; and therefore if one refuse to act, the others cannot proceed without his concurrence, and the Court of Chancery must take upon itself the administration of the trust. (2 Eq. Ca. Ab.' 742.) (4.) Where one of several trustees dies, the joint office may be exer cised by the survivors. This is a consequence of the general maxim of law, that thougif a bare authority given to several determines by the death of one, if the authority be coupled with an interest it survives. (Co. Litt. 113 a, 181 b.) (5.) One trustee is not liable for the acts of his co-trustee in which be has not joined, and this is equally true whether there is a proviso to that effect in the settlement or not. (Bridg. 35 ; 18 Yes. 254.) And even if a trustee joins in a receipt for money required for the purposes of the trust, for the 'sake of conformity only, be will. not thereby become responsible for the application of it, though it will be upon him to prove that his co-trustee was the person by whom the money was received. (11 Ves. 324; 1 Ed. 147.) The rule is different with respect to co-executors, each of whom has au absolute control over the property, and who are therefore under no obligation to join in giving receipts (Amb. 219 ; 3 Swanst. 64); though whenever their joining together in doing any act is necessary, the same rule applies to them as to other trustees. (7 Yes. 197.) But if a trustee allows money to remain improperly in the hands of his co-trustee, or is cogni sant of a breach of trust committed by him, and takes no measures to protect the estate, he will become himself responsible. (11 Yes. 319.) (6.) Trustees cannot derive any private advantage from the adminis tration of the trust, and therefore all profits made by the trustee in the management of the trust estate, in whatever manner, belong not to him, but to the ccstui qua trust. (2 M. & K. 664.) III. Of the duties of trustees.