Intuitive Fiduciaries: The Equitable Structure of Family Life
Canadian Journal of Family Law, Vol.19, No. 2, p. 345, 2002
26 Pages Posted: 4 Apr 2006
Abstract
The trust has been suggested as a conceptual framework for describing the relationship between parent and child as a model for organizing or structuring child protection legislation and practice. This theoretical framework has been only partially followed in the law itself, where the fiduciary relationship between parent and child has been articulated as a retroactive theory of liability for breach. The implications of the trust model as a mechanism for enforcing the family trust have not been developed. In this paper I have set out a conceptual foundation and framework for the fiduciary child protection that is inferred by the fiduciary relationship between parent and child. The theoretical coherence of fiduciary child protection has important practical implications; the fiduciary model suggests the proper function of State child protection (how it might work) while explaining the purpose and legitimacy of the State's intervention (why it should work).
Keywords: children, family, fiduciary, trust, child protection
JEL Classification: k00, k10, k19, k30, k31, k40, k42
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation