Gift, trust, succession & capacity

Study notes

The smaller Paper 1 topics bundled together: how gifts are made, how trusts split legal and beneficial ownership, who inherits when there is no will — and who is even allowed to hold land in Singapore.

What you must know

• A valid gift needs the donor’s intention, delivery, and acceptance; once perfected it cannot be recalled.
• A trust splits legal title (trustee) from beneficial enjoyment (beneficiary), and needs certainty of intention, of subject matter, and of objects.
• Trustees owe fiduciary duties — loyalty, no self-dealing, and acting in the beneficiaries’ interests.
• Intestacy under the Intestate Succession Act fixes the order: spouse and children share first; parents inherit only if there is no issue, then siblings, grandparents, uncles and aunts, and finally the state.
• A valid will under the Wills Act must be in writing, signed by the testator, and witnessed by two witnesses who are not beneficiaries.
• Minors (under 21) cannot hold land directly — a trustee holds for them; lack of mental capacity is addressed through instruments like a lasting power of attorney.
• The Residential Property Act restricts foreign purchases of restricted (landed) residential property without government approval — condominium units are not restricted.