A presumed intention resulting trust (PIRT, also known as a `presumed resulting trust') is a form of ResultingTrust that arises when a person acts in a way that is consistent with his wish to provide money or property in a way that benefits himself, but the legal consequence of his action is to divest himself of the legal title altogether. The textbook example of a PIRT is the PurchaseMoneyResultingTrust. Such a trust arises when one person provides the funds to purchase some land or property in the name of somebody else, and there is no evidence to rebut the presumption that the provider intended to benefit himself. If, for example, person A provides money to person B to buy property, then B will be presumed to hold that property on trust for A (DyerVDyer1788), lacking evidence of a contrary intention on the part of A.
Unlike an AutomaticResultingTrust (ART), that a PIRT exists is an assumption that can be rebutted by evidence that the donor intended to dispose of his interest in the money or property. This evidence can take various forms, for example:
Although PIRTs and ARTs have traditionally both been viewed as resulting trusts, in that the trust arises by action of law to benefit the settlor, these sub-types of resulting trust actually have very little in common. See TheoreticalBasisForResultingTrusts for a discussion of this point.
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