 Lawyers and academics had been pushing for reform of this area of law since at least 1982 , when the Law Commission published a report advising reform of the rules over trustees delegating their powers to other people . Other trusts reform came about through the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 , but this did not cover most of trusts law . Although there were some other small changes ( such as a 1996 Statutory Instrument that extended the rights of trustees under the Trustee Investments Act 1961 ) little else was done . Further papers were published on similar areas in 1997 and 1999 , and finally the Trustee Bill 2000 was introduced to the House of Lords in January 2000 , implementing the proposals laid out in the Law Commission 's 1999 report " Trustees ' Powers and Duties " . The Act was given the Royal Assent on 23 November 2000 , and most of it came into effect on 1 February 2001 through the Trustee Act 2000 ( Commencement ) Order 2001 . 
