constructive trust
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 345 U.S. 278 - Healy v. Commissioner · 1953Most cited · 612 citing opinions
A constructive trust is a fiction imposed as an equitable device for achieving justice. It lacks the attributes of a trust trust, and is not based on any intention of the parties.
How the Supreme Court has restated “constructive trust”
Each Supreme Court definition of “constructive trust,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “constructive trust”
Court decisions citing the 5 opinions that defined “constructive trust” — 967 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 5 definitions, chronological · 1870–1953
- ORIGINAL
he must be regarded as constructively the trustee and agent of May in removing the incumbrances and acquiring the ownership and beneficial control of the property
Where one party has acquired the legal right to property to which another has the better right, a court of equity will convert him into a trustee of the true owner, and compel him to convey the legal title
Where 'one party has acquired the legal title to property to which another has the better right, a court of equity will convert him into a trustee of the true owner and compel him to convey the legal title.
better right
equity will fasten a constructive trust upon property in order to frustrate a violation of fiduciary duty. But the mere failure to pay a debt does not belong in that category. At no time throughout the whole period was there a trust fund or res. No fund was segregated or set up by special deposit or in any manner.