[2008] SGHC 119

Introduction

This month’s FLP newsletter will look at a case where the ownership of funds in a joint bank account was disputed between a deceased woman’s estate and her romantic partner.

The Background

The deceased woman, Bee Bee, and her romantic partner were not married, although they lived together as husband and wife. Bee Bee had added her partner as a joint account holder to her UOB account. The funds in the UOB account had been entirely contributed by Bee Bee from the sale of her property, and her estate claimed that it was the beneficial owner of the funds, notwithstanding the right of survivorship that commonly operates on joint bank accounts in Singapore.

In this decision, Chan Seng Onn J looked very closely at the facts surrounding Bee Bee’s addition of her partner as a joint bank account holder, and came to the conclusion that it was Bee Bee’s intention to make a gift of the funds in that account to her partner.

Issue: Was It The Deceased’s Intention for The Right Of Survivorship To Apply?

At [124], the judgment notes that a presumption of resulting trust arose over the bank account, namely a rebuttable presumption that the partner was holding the funds in the bank account on trust for Bee Bee’s estate, since he himself had not contributed at all to the funds in the bank account. Hence the burden was on the partner to prove, on a balance of probability, that it was Bee Bee’s intention to gift the funds to him.

At [106], the court noted that under the terms and conditions for the UOB joint bank account, there was a right of survivorship where the surviving joint account holder (in this case, the partner) would be entitled to the funds in the account. The court found that, based on the evidence, Bee Bee understood the effect of this right of survivorship and had in fact been advised on the right of survivorship by the bank officer.

Hence, at [107], the court found that it would have been Bee Bee’s expectation that her surviving partner would be fully entitled to the funds in the joint account. At [108], the court found that Bee Bee had done this intentionally to provide for her partner without going to the trouble of changing her will.

Conclusion

In the above case, the deceased’s intention was for the surviving partner to get all the funds in the joint bank account, and there was overwhelming evidence to support that finding. However, this case illustrates that the right of survivorship over a joint bank account is not in itself an ironclad way of leaving assets, if the other next-of-kin or beneficiaries decide to stake a legal claim over the funds in the bank account. Evidence of the deceased’s intention would therefore be the deciding factor.

It is common practice in Singapore for banks to state that joint bank accounts are subject to a right of survivorship. However, most people are unaware of this common arrangement in their joint accounts. As such, it is important for everyone to consider going through a Wealth & Legacy Screening where our lawyers can help you to identify important issues like right of survivorship in bank accounts, properties, overseas assets’ inheritance tax exposure.