CG37531 - Absolute entitlement: part of trust fund: Trustees' power of appropriation

If, however, the trustees, before the last contingency, appropriate specific assets to a beneficiary whose share has vested, there is a Section 71(1) occasion of charge in relation to those assets at the date of appropriation. The reason for this is that if the trustees have an express power of appropriation they can decide which assets a particular beneficiary is to receive as his entitlement. Until this power is exercised, the beneficiary cannot claim any specific asset and therefore it cannot be said that he or she is absolutely entitled to a fractional share of everything.