that person a constructive trustee, forcing them to account to the beneficiaries for any loss suffered and look after the trust property in their possession. Definition A constructive trust is a trust the courts impose whenever the defendant knows that he has dealt with property in an "unconscionable manner", such as stealing it, possessing it via fraud, and accepting a bribe while in occupation of a fiduciary office. The constructive trust is intended to take the property from the defendant's control, preventing them from causing additional harm with it. It thus acts regardless of the parties' intentions. In Paragon Finance plc v DB Thakerar & Co, Millett LJ defined a constructive trust as a trust that "arises by operation of law whenever the circumstances are such that it would be unconscionable for the owner of property (usually but not necessarily the legal estate) to assert his own beneficial interest in the property and deny the beneficial interest of another". Essentially, a constructive trust arises whenever an owner either ignores, or interferes, with the rights of another person with an interest in that property. There is a distinction between personal and proprietary rights to property. A constructive trust normally gives a proprietary right to the beneficiary that can be enforced on any other person. The alternative (a personal right) merely gives the beneficiary the right to recover money equivalent to the value of the property. Constructive trusts, under Section 53(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925, do not require any particular formalities on creation, unlike express trusts. For them to be valid, however, the defendant (or "trustee" of the constructive trust) must know that he has dealt with property in an "unconscionable manner". In Westdeutsche Landesbank v Islington London Borough Council, Lord Browne-Wilkinson wrote that "Since the equitable jurisdiction to enforce trusts depends upon the conscience of the holder of the legal interest being affected, he cannot be a trustee of the property if and so long as he is ignorant of the facts alleged to affect his conscience". Reasons Unconscionable dealings with property When the owner of property deals with it in such a way as to deny or impede the rights of some other person over that property, the courts order that owner to hold it on constructive trust. For trusts of real property, constructive trusts may arise in one of three situations. First, when the parties form