Tort Vs. Breach of Trust

Breach of trust can take the form of underpaying agreed-upon wages or lying about a product's quality, quantity, or price. Fraud is defined as a violation of trust that is performed intentionally and with the intent to deceive. Malicious falsehood is the term used when there is a high degree of negligence involved, while perjury is used when it is done knowingly.

What Exactly is Tort Law?

Tort law is the area of law that deals with the majority of civil cases. Most claims that are brought before a civil court, with the exception of contractual disputes, are covered by tort law.

Tort law seeks to both make up for wrongs done to individuals and shield them from the wrongdoings of others. Typically, this is accomplished by paying the victim monetary damages. The original intent of tort law was to properly compensate victims of demonstrable harms.

What exactly is a Breach of Trust?

In legal situations, a person who commits a trust violation or abuses property that has been provided to them for a while is referred to as "breaching trust." A breach of trust happens when the trustee or another party violates the precise rules and many delineations of the property that govern trusts. For breaches of trust, beneficiaries may be entitled to monetary damages or an equitable remedy. A breach of trust can also occur when a property owner permits a person to regularly use or borrow their property, and that person steals or uses it improperly. A breach of trust would happen, for instance, if you hired a valet to park your car and the valet then drove it around.

What Constitutes a Breach of Trust?

A breach of trust happens when someone is tricked by another person. In most cases, the con artist will be successful in learning intimate details about the victim.

There are numerous ways that trust can be betrayed. Typical examples include −

• when the person intentionally and knowingly obtains crucial information. This can happen in a variety of ways, such as through fraud, intimidation, deception, and false pretenses. Any kind of identification used by a person to prove his or her identity may be used to access personal information in this fashion, including but not limited to sports cards, driver's licenses, or IDs.

• when the artist can forcefully or coercively gain personal information. This happens when a person is forced to divulge personal information to the deceiver in order to win the deceiver's favor.

• When someone provides personal information, that enables a third party to access another person's account in order to withdraw money.

• when someone provides personal information to get a service or product that the victim won't get.

This includes scenarios where a person pays cash yet the good or service is fake, subpar, or never delivered.

Differences

The differences between tort and breach of trust are as follows −

Tort

• A civil wrong is a tort. There must be civil processes started.

• It isn't a part of the legislation.

• Motivation is unimportant.

• The common law became the foundation of tort law.

• The defendant and the plaintiff may or may not have been acquainted before the occurrence of tortious liability.

• Unliquidated damages are the legal remedy for tort liability.

Breach of Trust

• Breach of a trust or other equitable commitment is a crime that carries a penalty of either jail time or a fine, or both.

• The law has been codified.

• Motivation is important.

• The law of equity alone applied to breaches of trust and other responsibilities.

• The plaintiff and defendant have been acquainted from the start. The law of trust actually depends on our trust in one another.

• The plaintiff has access to legal remedies such as injunctions, particular property restitution, the payment of liquidated sums of money as a punishment, etc. The defendant is additionally subject to a fine, incarceration, or both under the criminal proceedings.

Difference Between Tort and Breach of Trust

Based on the above discussion, the following table highlights the major differences between tort and breach of trust −

Tort	Breach of Trust
The damages in tort is unliquidated	The damages in a breach of trust is liquidated
The law of tort was a part of the common law	Law of trust was part of court of chancery
Tort is partly related to the law of property	Trust is a breach of law of property

Conclusion

The law of torts generally pertains to a system that enables a person to sue for damages in a civil action if he has been harmed or injured as a result of the actions of another person. The word "torture" denotes behavior that is "wrong" and illegal. It is a civil wrong that gives rise to the ability to file a common law lawsuit and seek unreimbursed damages. A tort, then, is a wrongdoing committed by one person that causes another to suffer legal harm. Trespassing on someone's property, slander, assault, and other scenarios are examples. When a trustee violates the trust's conditions or his or her responsibilities, it is a breach of trust.

Simply put, a criminal breach of trust is any action that violates the mutual trust between two people. A criminal breach of trust is said to have been committed when someone is granted access to or custody of property in any way and uses, transforms, or disposes of it dishonestly or in violation of a court order or contract.

FAQs

Q1. What exactly constitutes a violation of trust?

Ans. In legal situations, a breach of trust is when someone violates the terms of a trust or uses property that has been handed to them unfairly for a while.

Q2. What are the major types of torts?

Ans. Assault, battery, property damage, property conversion, and intentionally causing emotional distress are some significant examples of common torts.