Unit 2.8 Paper 1

Trusts of Land for the RES Exam

Last reviewed 11 October 2026

A trust separates legal ownership from beneficial ownership: the trustee is on the title, the beneficiary gets the benefit. Unit 2.8 asks you to recognise the three ways a trust arises, to know what the Trustees Act requires of trustees selling land, and to work out who a buyer must deal with and pay. It connects directly to co-ownership, because the name on the title and the shares in equity are not always the same thing.

Key points

The trustee holds the legal title and is the registered proprietor; the beneficiary holds the equitable interest and cannot convey the land.
A trust created by will is testamentary and takes effect on death; one created during the settlor’s lifetime is inter vivos.
A resulting trust is presumed where one person provides the purchase money for property in another’s name, in proportion to contributions.
The presumption of advancement applies in relationships such as father to child and husband to wife, not between friends or uncle and nephew.
A constructive trust is imposed by law to prevent unconscionable conduct, for example on a common intention to share ownership.
Trustees Act s 15(3): proceeds of sale of land must not be paid to fewer than two trustees unless the trustee is a trust corporation.
Paying the purchase money properly to the trustees overreaches the beneficiaries’ interests, which shift to the sale proceeds.
A minor cannot hold legal title; where the trust deed gives no power of sale, the trustee needs High Court approval, and rising value alone is not a sufficient reason (Re Tan Yi Lin Cheryl [2025] SGHC 215).

Settlor, trustee, beneficiary: how a trust splits ownership

A trust has three roles. The settlor creates it. The trustee holds the legal title and, for land, is the registered proprietor. The beneficiary holds the equitable or beneficial interest. A settlor does not have to be a beneficiary; typically the settlor is providing for someone else.

The trustee must deal with the property for the benefit of the beneficiaries and must not take a personal benefit from it unless the trust permits. A trustee is not a beneficial owner and cannot treat the property or its proceeds as their own. Conversely, a beneficiary does not hold legal title, is not the registered proprietor and cannot sign a transfer or grant an option over the land. Several exam questions are built on that asymmetry: the name on the register tells you who can convey, not who is entitled. Indefeasibility under the Land Titles Act does not displace the trust obligations a registered proprietor owes to the beneficiaries.

Express trusts: inter vivos and testamentary

An express trust is created deliberately, by a declaration of trust or by a will. The distinction the examiners want is the timing. A trust created during the settlor’s lifetime is an inter vivos or living trust. A trust created by will is a testamentary trust and takes effect only on the testator’s death; until then the testator can revoke or vary it by making a new will.

So where a will declares that trustees are to hold a shophouse for the testator’s widow for life and then for the grandchildren, the trust is an express testamentary trust, the testator is the settlor, the named trustees are the registered owners, and the widow and grandchildren hold the equitable interests. Being a trustee does not make a person a beneficiary, and nor does being a child of the testator — the will decides who benefits.

A bare trust is the simplest form: the trustee holds the property with no active duties beyond holding it, and a beneficiary of full age who is absolutely entitled can call for the legal title. Property held “in trust for” a named child is usually of this kind.

Resulting and constructive trusts

Not every trust is deliberate. A resulting trust arises by presumed intention. Where one person provides the purchase money and the property is registered in another person’s name, equity presumes a resulting trust in favour of the person who paid, in proportion to the contributions. That person is not a legal owner — legal title follows registration — but holds a beneficial share, so the claim is to a share in the property, not merely to repayment of a debt. The same presumption applies where property is transferred for no consideration.

The presumption is rebuttable. Evidence that a gift or a loan was intended displaces it, and so does the presumption of advancement, which operates in certain family relationships — classically father to child and husband to wife — and presumes a gift. Advancement does not extend to an aunt or uncle and a nephew, or to friends, and candidates regularly get this wrong by assuming any family connection is enough. Both presumptions yield to evidence of the parties’ actual intention at the time, which can include the wording of the instrument itself, such as a transfer executed expressly “by way of gift”.

A constructive trust is imposed by law rather than inferred from intention. It arises where it would be unconscionable for the legal owner to deny another person’s interest — for example where the parties had a common intention that the other should share the beneficial ownership and that person acted to their detriment on it. Continued occupation by a former owner does not, by itself, create one.

Trusts of land and the effect on co-ownership

This is where trusts and co-ownership meet. Registration as joint tenants makes survivorship operate at law, so on a joint tenant’s death the survivors become the registered owners of the whole. Equity, however, presumes a tenancy in common in several situations, including where purchasers contributed unequally and where they are business partners or co-mortgagees. In those cases the beneficial interest is held on a resulting trust in proportion to contributions.

The result looks contradictory but is not. Three sisters registered as joint tenants who contributed 50%, 30% and 20% hold the legal title jointly, so survivorship passes that title to the survivors — but unless the presumption is rebutted, the survivors hold the deceased sister’s three-tenths beneficial share on trust for her estate. The register does not always tell you who is entitled to the proceeds.

Trustees’ duties and selling trust land

The Trustees Act 1967 supplies the framework, and its provisions are examined directly. Section 3A sets the statutory duty of care: a trustee must use such care and skill as is reasonable in the circumstances, having regard to any special knowledge or experience the trustee has or claims to have, so a professional trustee is held to a higher standard. Section 13(1) allows trustees for sale to sell all or part of the property, by public auction or private contract, in lots or together. Section 36(1)(a) limits the trustees of land to four; if more are named, the first four able and willing to act are the trustees. Section 37(1) allows a new trustee to be appointed in writing where a trustee has died, has remained outside Singapore for more than 12 months, wishes to be discharged, refuses to act, or is unfit or incapable.

Section 15(3) matters most in practice: the proceeds of sale of land must not be paid to fewer than two trustees, unless the trustee is a trust corporation. A buyer dealing with a sole individual trustee should therefore insist that a second trustee be appointed before completion. Paying the purchase money properly to the trustees produces overreaching: the beneficiaries’ equitable interests are detached from the land and attach to the proceeds instead, and the buyer takes the land free of them. Paying the beneficiaries directly, or taking a receipt from one trustee only, does not give the buyer a good discharge.

Where the trust instrument confers a power of sale, the trustees may exercise it without every adult beneficiary’s consent and without a court order, though they must act prudently and obtain the best price reasonably obtainable. They must also avoid conflicts: a trustee who buys trust property, or a sale to a company connected with a trustee, is self-dealing and open to being set aside unless authorised by the instrument, sanctioned by the court or made with the beneficiaries’ informed consent. Neither a company’s separate legal personality nor a good price cures the conflict.

Property held in trust for a minor

A person under 21 cannot hold legal title to registered land in Singapore, so property bought for a child is held by an adult trustee on trust for the child until the child reaches 21, when the trust ends and legal title passes. Turning 18 does not entitle the child to be registered as proprietor, a minor’s consent to a sale has no legal effect, and a minor cannot give a valid receipt for the proceeds. Anyone holding the child’s money is a trustee bound to use it only for the child’s benefit.

Selling such a property is more restricted than parents expect. Where the trust deed gives no power of sale, the trustee must apply to the High Court for approval. In Re Tan Yi Lin Cheryl [2025] SGHC 215 the court dismissed a mother’s application to sell a condominium bought in trust for her young son: the trustee must show a proper reason beyond the fact that the value has risen, must satisfy the court that the trust was not created to avoid ABSD, and must make full disclosure of her own assets and liabilities. Being the registered owners does not let parent-trustees sell freely, and the proceeds remain trust money to which section 15(3) applies.

Residential property transferred into a living trust also attracts ABSD (Trust), which has applied since 9 May 2022 and has been 65% since 27 April 2023 (as at October 2026). It is payable upfront whether or not the beneficial owners can be identified. A refund may be claimed within six months after the instrument is executed where all the beneficial owners are identifiable individuals whose interests have vested and are not variable or revocable. BSD is payable in any case.

Terms to know

Settlor: The person who creates a trust by transferring property to trustees or declaring themselves a trustee of it.
Trustee: The person who holds the legal title to trust property and must deal with it for the beneficiaries’ benefit.
Beneficiary: The person entitled to the benefit of trust property, holding the equitable or beneficial interest.
Bare trust: A trust in which the trustee simply holds the property with no active duties, the beneficiary being absolutely entitled to it.
Resulting trust: A trust presumed by equity, typically where one person provides the purchase money for property registered in another’s name.
Constructive trust: A trust imposed by law, irrespective of intention, where it would be unconscionable for the legal owner to deny another’s interest.
Presumption of advancement: The presumption, in relationships such as father to child or husband to wife, that a transfer or payment was intended as a gift.
Overreaching: The process by which beneficiaries’ equitable interests are detached from the land and attach to the sale proceeds when a buyer pays the trustees properly.

Frequently asked questions

Who does a buyer of trust property deal with and pay?

The trustees, because they hold the legal title and must act jointly. Under section 15(3) of the Trustees Act 1967 the proceeds of sale of land must not be paid to fewer than two trustees unless the trustee is a trust corporation, and paying them properly overreaches the beneficiaries’ interests so that the buyer takes the land free of them.

What is the difference between a resulting trust and a constructive trust?

A resulting trust arises from presumed intention — typically where one person provided the purchase money for property registered in another’s name. A constructive trust is imposed by law where it would be unconscionable for the legal owner to deny another’s interest, such as where there was a common intention to share the beneficial ownership.

Can a child under 21 own a property in Singapore?

Not the legal title. A person under 21 cannot be registered as proprietor of registered land, so an adult trustee holds the property on trust for the child until the child turns 21, when the trust ends and legal title passes. The child holds the beneficial interest in the meantime.

Do all the beneficiaries have to consent before trustees sell the land?

Not generally. Where the trust instrument confers a power of sale, the trustees may exercise it without every beneficiary’s consent and without a court order, although they must act prudently and obtain the best price reasonably obtainable. A minor beneficiary could not give valid consent in any event.

If co-owners are registered as joint tenants, are their beneficial shares always equal?

No. Survivorship operates on the legal title, but equity presumes a tenancy in common where purchasers contributed unequally, or where they are business partners or co-mortgagees. In those cases the beneficial interest is held on a resulting trust in proportion to contributions, unless that presumption is rebutted.

Official sources

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