Lim Kim Toon v LIM HWEE HOON

[2024] SGHC 115 High Court (General Division) 5 May 2024 • HC/OC 454/2022 • 17 min read

Catchwords

Trusts — Resulting trusts Trusts — Constructive trust Gifts — Presumptions against — Resulting trusts

Practice Areas

Trusts Gifts

Judges (1)

Choo Han Teck Delivered

Counsel (8)

Aldgate Chambers LLC Firm Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP Firm David Ooi Tsu Chong Counsel Claimant Keerthana Narayanan Counsel Claimant Kenneth Jerald Pereira Counsel Claimant Low Chai Chong Counsel Defendant Manfred Lum Rui Loong Counsel Defendant Shermaine Lim Jia Qi Counsel Defendant

Parties (2)

Lim Hwee Hoon Defendant Lim Kim Toon Claimant

Case Significance

Lim Kim Toon v Lim Hwee Hoon [2024] SGHC 115 was decided by Choo Han Teck J in the General Division of the High Court on 6 May 2024, following hearings on 1 to 4 April and 25 April 2024 in Originating Claim No 454 of 2022. The claimant, Lim Kim Toon, aged 90, and his late wife Madam Wong, who died on 13 March 2021, had six children, the youngest of whom, Lim Hwee Hoon, is the defendant. The judgment records that the action split the family: the claimant, his second son Lim Boon Lye, and Jimmy Lea, the son-in-law of his elder son, testified for the claimant, while the defendant and her other siblings, including Lim Boon Yew, testified for the defendant. Choo Han Teck J set out the claimant's history, including that he started Evan Lim Construction Ltd with a younger brother in 1964 and, in 1982, started a warehousing company, Evan Lim Industrial/Warehousing Development Pte Ltd, to buy and lease out warehouses. The catchwords concern resulting trusts, constructive trust, and the presumption against gifts.

Summary

This General Division of the High Court decision concerned a dispute between Lim Kim Toon, a 90-year-old man, and his youngest daughter Lim Hwee Hoon over properties registered in part in the daughter's name, with the claimant asserting that he had purchased the properties for himself and that the daughter held her share on trust for him. The issues concerned resulting trusts, constructive trusts, and the presumption against gifts. The court found that the claimant intended to purchase the properties for himself, held that the defendant held her share in trust for the claimant, and ordered that the properties be sold or disposed of as the claimant deems fit, with costs to be heard later.

What was Lim Kim Toon v Lim Hwee Hoon [2024] SGHC 115 about?

It was a family dispute in Originating Claim No 454 of 2022 between Lim Kim Toon, aged 90, and his youngest daughter Lim Hwee Hoon, raising issues of resulting trusts, constructive trust and the presumption against gifts. Choo Han Teck J decided the matter on 6 May 2024.

Who testified in Lim Kim Toon v Lim Hwee Hoon [2024] SGHC 115?

The claimant Lim Kim Toon, his second son Lim Boon Lye, and Jimmy Lea, son-in-law of his elder son, testified for the claimant. The defendant Lim Hwee Hoon and her other siblings, including Lim Boon Yew, testified for the defendant, in an action the court noted had split the family.

Referenced in

Legal concepts & references

Trusts — Resulting trusts

Judgment

Read the full judgment on the official Singapore Courts portal.

Read on eLitigation

Source: eLitigation ([2024] SGHC 115)