Transferor's intention, trustee's undertaking and the scope of fiduciary liability

• Main Author: SEE, Alvin W. L.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Estates and Trusts
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2752
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In Tan Yok Koon v Tan Choo Suan, which concerned a family dispute over the beneficial ownership of shares in a family company,the Singapore Court of Appeal delivered a lengthy judgment addressing two interesting issues. First, the court expressed preference for a more holistic approach in the identification of the transferor's intention, thus signaling a shift from relying on the presumptions of resulting trust and advancement to careful consideration of all available evidence. This approach is to be welcomed,particularly in cases involving complex relations, the subtleties of which are usually lost if the presumptions are strictly applied. Second, the court accepted that fiduciary duties arise from voluntary undertakings, and that although resulting trusts are imposed by law, in the rare case the circumstances giving rise to a resulting trust may reveal an undertaking by the resulting trustee so as to subject him or her to fiduciary duties. The court also identified the duty of honesty and good faith as a fiduciary duty,although this aspect of the decision is undermined by the failure to address the rationale of fiduciary duties, which results in the blurring of the distinction between fiduciary and non-fiduciary duties.