Quek Peng Hock Henry v Chia Swee Hun: Resulting Trusts, Inter Vivos Gifts, Undue Influence

In Quek Peng Hock Henry v Chia Swee Hun, before the General Division of the High Court of Singapore on 1 June 2023, Judy Quek, as the litigation representative of Henry Quek, sued Chia Swee Hun to claim various assets, alleging they were held on trust, gifts made without capacity or under undue influence, or converted by Chia. The court found that some assets were held on resulting trust for Henry, that Chia exerted undue influence over Henry, and that Chia converted some of Henry's assets. The court ordered Chia to transfer properties, return funds, account for moneys, and pay damages to Henry.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

General Division of the High Court

1.2 Outcome

Judgment for Plaintiff

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Suit over assets claimed from defendant. Court found resulting trusts, undue influence, and conversion. Judgment for Plaintiff.

1.7 Decision Date

31 May 2023

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Quek Peng Hock Henry	Plaintiff	Individual	Judgment for Plaintiff	Won	Nicholas Narayanan, Yeo Lai Hock Nichol, Qua Bi Qi
Chia Swee Hun	Defendant	Individual	Orders made against Defendant	Lost	Cheong Yon-Wen Jeremy, Chia Wei Lin Rebecca, Markus Kng Tian Sheng

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Audrey Lim	Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Nicholas Narayanan	Nicholas & Tan Partnership LLP
Yeo Lai Hock Nichol	Nine Yards Chambers LLC
Qua Bi Qi	Nine Yards Chambers LLC
Cheong Yon-Wen Jeremy	JCP Law LLC
Chia Wei Lin Rebecca	JCP Law LLC
Markus Kng Tian Sheng	JCP Law LLC

4. Facts

Henry suffered a stroke on 26 June 2020 and again on 8 October 2020.
Judy was appointed as Henry’s deputy pursuant to the Mental Capacity Act 2008.
Henry and Chia were in a romantic relationship and Chia moved into Henry’s home.
Henry purchased the KL Property, Bonds, and MM2 Shares but registered them in Chia’s name.
Henry transferred $800,000 from his POSB account and two sums of $500,000 each from his UOB account to Chia.
Henry transferred The Tiara to Chia by a Deed of Gift dated 19 January 2021.
Chia listed The Tiara and Henry’s watches and jewellery for sale on Carousell.

5. Formal Citations

Quek Peng Hock Henry (suing by his deputy and litigation representative, Quek Lee Tiam) v Chia Swee Hun, Suit No 778 of 2021, [2023] SGHC 162

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2003-01-01	Chia started working in Singapore as a hairdresser.
2005-01-01	Henry and his wife divorced.
2007-01-01	Henry purchased The Tiara.
2011-01-01	Chia moved into Henry’s home, The Tiara (as claimed by Chia).
2013-01-01	Chia moved into Henry’s home, The Tiara (as claimed by Judy).
2015-01-01	Henry transferred $1m to the Joint i-A/C.
2015-06-01	KL Property purchased.
2017-06-01	Chia transferred $900,000 from the Joint TD A/C to the Chia-Wong A/C.
2017-07-01	Earlier Bonds purchased.
2017-10-05	Redemption proceeds of the Earlier Bonds were paid into the Joint i-A/C.
2017-10-11	$700,000 and $350,000 were withdrawn and placed in the Joint TD A/C.
2017-10-20	$507,052.05 was transferred from the Joint TD A/C to the Joint i-A/C.
2017-11-13	$700,031.64 was transferred from the Joint TD A/C to the Joint i-A/C.
2017-12-26	Cheque signed by Chia issued for $1,050,000.
2018-02-02	First tranche of MM2 Shares purchased.
2018-02-07	Bonds worth $1,050,000 were issued to Chia.
2018-02-19	Second tranche of MM2 Shares purchased.
2018-03-05	5/3/18 Letter purportedly signed by Henry and witnessed by Jordan and Jerrold.
2018-03-20	20/3/18 Letter purportedly signed by Henry and witnessed by Jordan.
2019-04-01	Vacant possession of the KL Property obtained.
2019-06-01	Judy viewed the KL Property.
2019-12-25	Henry and Chia quarrelled.
2019-12-28	Henry and Chia quarrelled.
2019-12-30	Chia left.
2019-12-31	Henry and Chia broke off.
2020-03-01	Chia returned to Malaysia.
2020-06-26	Henry suffered the first stroke.
2020-10-08	Henry suffered the second stroke.
2020-10-09	Henry likely lost mental capacity.
2020-10-12	Judy asked Chia to return to Singapore to care for Henry.
2020-10-13	Chia returned to Singapore.
2020-11-03	Chia withdrew $240,000 from TD017.
2021-01-19	Deed of Gift signed, transferring The Tiara to Chia.
2021-02-08	Coupon of $64,268.40 was paid into a UOB account held jointly by Chia and Ms Wong Siew Yin.
2021-02-10	$800,000 transferred from Henry’s POSB A/C to Chia’s POSB account.
2021-02-16	First $500,000 sum withdrawn from Henry’s UOB A/C.
2021-02-18	Sum paid to the Commissioner of Stamp Duties for the transfer of The Tiara to Chia.
2021-02-24	Second $500,000 sum withdrawn from Henry’s UOB A/C.
2021-03-01	Transfer Instrument signed.
2021-03-08	Transfer Instrument registered.
2021-03-15	Henry caused the MM2 shares to be sold.
2021-03-19	Chia withdrew $50,000 from TD015 and $120,000 from TD014.
2021-04-06	Henry told Jerrold that he wanted to “jump from” The Tiara.
2021-04-06	Henry was admitted to the Institute of Mental Health.
2021-04-06	Deed of Settlement signed.
2021-04-07	Chia withdrew $334,122.74 from TD012.
2021-04-08	Henry’s family cancelled the phone line subscribed by Henry for Chia.
2021-04-15	Dr Fones examined Henry.
2021-08-04	The court determined that Henry lacked capacity.
2021-08-01	Judy was made Henry’s deputy.
2021-09-10	Chia’s profile on Carousell was set up.
2021-10-10	Chia lodged a police report.
2022-09-20	Trial began.
2023-03-01	Court directions dated.
2023-06-01	Judgment reserved.

7. Legal Issues

Resulting Trust
- Outcome: The court found that the KL Property and MM2 Shares were held on resulting trust for Henry.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Intention of transferor
  - Rebutting presumption of resulting trust
- Related Cases:
  - [2008] 2 SLR(R) 108
  - [2014] 3 SLR 1048
  - [2017] 2 SLR 964
Inter Vivos Gift
- Outcome: The court found that Henry did not have the intention to gift the KL Property, MM2 Shares, and Bonds to Chia.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Intention to gift
  - Proper conveyance
- Related Cases:
  - [2001] 1 SLR(R) 771
Undue Influence
- Outcome: The court found that the transfer of the Category 3 Assets was procured by undue influence.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Relationship of trust and confidence
  - Transaction calling for explanation
  - Rebutting presumption of undue influence
- Related Cases:
  - [2019] 1 SLR 349
Mental Capacity
- Outcome: The court found that Henry lacked the requisite mental capacity since around 9 October 2020.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Impairment of mind or brain
  - Inability to make decisions
- Related Cases:
  - [2015] 4 SLR 81
Conversion
- Outcome: The court found that Chia had converted the Watches and Jewellery.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Wrongful taking
  - Interference with ownership
- Related Cases:
  - [2015] 5 SLR 541

8. Remedies Sought

Return of Assets
Monetary Compensation
Transfer of Property

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Trust
Undue Influence
Conversion

10. Practice Areas

Trust Law
Personal Injury
Civil Litigation

11. Industries

No industries specified

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Alwie Handoyo v Tjong Very Sumito and another and another appeal	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2013] 4 SLR 308	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the burden lies on the party asserting forgery to prove it on a balance of probabilities.
Sudha Natrajan v The Bank of East Asia Ltd	High Court	Yes	[2017] 1 SLR 141	Singapore	Cited regarding the analysis of pen pressure and stroke formation in handwriting analysis.
Re BKR	High Court	Yes	[2015] 4 SLR 81	Singapore	Cited for the test for mental capacity in s 4(1) of the MCA involving a functional and a clinical component.
Tan Yok Koon v Tan Choo Suan and another and other appeals	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2017] 1 SLR 654	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the intention to create a trust must be communicated by the settlor to the trustee.
Lau Siew Kim v Yeo Guan Chye Terence and another	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2008] 2 SLR(R) 108	Singapore	Cited for the principle that a resulting trust arises where a transferor transfers property to a recipient in circumstances where the transferor does not intend to benefit the recipient.
Chan Yuen Lan v See Fong Mun	High Court	Yes	[2014] 3 SLR 1048	Singapore	Cited for the principle that if there is evidence to prove the transferor’s intention or from which the intention can be inferred, the court will not resort to the presumption of a resulting trust.
Chia Kok Weng v Chia Kwok Yeo and another	High Court	Yes	[2017] 2 SLR 964	Singapore	Cited for the principle that to rebut the presumption of a resulting trust, what the transferee needs to prove is not that the transferor did not have an intention to retain a beneficial interest but that he had the donative intent to benefit the transferee.
Lee Hiok Tng (in her personal capacity) v Lee Hiok Tng and another (executors and trustees of the estate of Lee Wee Nam, deceased) and others	High Court	Yes	[2001] 1 SLR(R) 771	Singapore	Cited for the principle that a valid inter vivos gift is made where there is an intent to gift followed by the proper conveyance of the precise subject matter to be given.
BOM v BOK and another appeal	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2019] 1 SLR 349	Singapore	Cited for the principle that there are essentially two classes of undue influence, namely actual and presumed.
Marco Polo Shipping Co Pte Ltd v Fairmacs Shipping & Transport Services Pte Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2015] 5 SLR 541	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the measure of damages for a claim in conversion is the value of the goods converted.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Mental Capacity Act 2008	Singapore
Civil Law Act 1909	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Resulting Trust
Inter Vivos Gift
Undue Influence
Mental Capacity
Conversion
Deed of Gift
Category 3 Assets
Joint TD A/C
Joint i-A/C
KL Property
The Tiara
MM2 Shares
Bonds

15.2 Keywords

trust
gift
undue influence
mental capacity
conversion
property
equity

16. Subjects

Trust Law
Equity
Mental Capacity Law
Personal Relationships
Property Law

17. Areas of Law

Equity
Conversion
Gifts
Inter vivos
Trusts
Resulting trusts
Constructive trusts
Mental Capacity Law
Undue Influence