Abstract:
In this case, the Singapore Court of Appeal had the opportunity to consider its approach towards ascertaining the parties’ beneficial interests under the common law. It took the opportunity to revisit its earlier decision of Lau Siew Kim v Teo Guan Chye Terence [2008] 2 SLR(R) 108 and establish an approach for future cases. It is submitted that the Court of Appeal’s approach could have gone further to first, establish the common intention constructive trust analysis as the starting point for ascertaining beneficial interests under the common law, second, reform the presumption of advancement and third, pave the way for a greater role to be played by non-financial contributions in ascertaining the parties’ beneficial interests.