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I post this on behalf of Martin Hogg:

Your question about trusts is a good one. I think I can do no better than quote from the leading Scots book on Property Law (The Law of Property in Scotland, by Kenneth Reid, who is a Scottish Law Commissioner):-

"On at least one view of the English law of trusts, ownership is divided between trustee and beneficiary, the former holding the legal ownership of the trust property and the latter the beneficial or equitable ownership. However, while English law has been an important influence on the development of the law of trusts in Scotland, the idea of divided ownership has not been adopted. The position in Scots law is that full and undivided ownership of trust property is held by the trustee or trustees, and that the right of the beneficiary is simply a personal right to acquire implementation of the purposes of the trust." (para 40)

I hope that answers your query.

I could perhaps add that for a robust defence against a role for the 'constructive trust' in Scots law, my colleague Prof George Gretton has an excellent 2 part article in the Edinburgh Law Review - (1997) 1 ELR 281 and 408.

Regards,

Martin