Constructive Trust

A trust raised by construction of law, or arising by operation of law, as distinguished from an express trust; a trust implied or inferred from circumstances; otherwise called an implied trust, and sometimes a resulting trust, (qq. v.) Thus, if an estate be purchased in the name of one person, and the consideration money belong to, or be paid by another, the land purchased will be subject to a trust for the person to whom the money belonged.

1 Sand, Us, 212. 1 Steph, Com, 346.

Wherever the circumstances of a transaction are such that the person who takes the legal estate in property, cannot also enjoy the beneficial interest without necessarily violating some established principle of equity, the court will immediately raise a constructive trust, and fasten it upon the conscience of the legal owner, so as to convert him into a trustee for the parties who in equity are entitled to the beneficial enjoyment.

Ilill on Trustees, 116. 1 Spences Chancery, 511.