A newspaper vendor’s bid to retrieve the half-share of a $1.25 million condo unit held by his son was denied by the High Court, which was not convinced that the son was merely holding it on trust for the father, reported My Paper.
In 2000, Chin Kim Yon paid $700,000 for the Hillview Avenue condominium which he registered in the names of his daughter Yun Qin and son Kheng Hai, then aged 35 and 33 respectively, giving each a half-share.
The two were his children from his second marriage in 1963. He also has five other children from his first marriage in 1958.
The half-share of his daughter was transferred to him when she died in 2014. Thereafter, he sought a court declaration that he was the unit’s beneficial owner as well as the return of his son’s half-share in order to regularise ownership.
Represented by lawyer Winston Quek, Chin claimed that he never intended to give the property to his children, who were merely holding it on trust. He explained that he had ‘no choice’ but to purchase the condo after the two children failed to obtain a bank loan for the property and his daughter asked for help.
While Kheng Hai’s lawyer Goh Peck San acknowledged that there was a presumed resulting trust for Chin, he countered that it was presumed the property was gifted or advanced to the children.
Under the presumption of advancement, the court recognises the special relationship existing between father and children or husband and wife, which could be used as evidence that the claim was an irrevocable gift at the time.
Senior Judge Tan Lee Meng said Chin failed to rebut the presumption, pointing to his intention as well as the state of his relationship with the children when he bought the condo in 2000.
He noted that the relationship between father and son soured in 2013, prior to the death of Mr Chin’s wife in March that same year.
In fact, evidence showed that Chin ‘cared for them’ in 2000 and acquired the unit out of ‘fatherly concern’.
Chin funded the studies of Kheng Hai in the United States and Canada, arranged for his return for medical treatment following a skiing accident in 1997, and even sponsored a US trip for the sister and mother to attend his graduation.
Judge Tan ruled that there was ‘ample room for the operation of the presumption of advancement’ based on the state of relationship between father and children.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
