Charanjeet Kaur A/p Sukhbir Singh v Zhao Jingkun
b-02ncvca-88-01-2023 Court of Appeal (Mahkamah Rayuan) 3 November 2025 • B-02(NCvC)(A)-88-01/2023 • 16 min read
6 cases cited
(0 SG, 6 foreign)
Catchwords
Wills and Probate — Mutual Wills — Irrevocability — Constructive Trust — Extrinsic Evidence — Common Intention — Subsequent Will — Revocation — Testamentary Freedom — Majority Decision — Dissenting Judgment (Majority decision) The deceased and his first wife executed substantially identical wills in 2007, bequeathing their jointly owned matrimonial home to their niece. Following the first wife’s death, the deceased remarried and executed a later will in 2014 leaving his estate to his second wife. The issues were whether the earlier wills were mutual and therefore irrevocable or, whether the man was free to depart from them by his later will. The High Court ruled in favour of the second will, hence this appeal by the executor of the first will. The Court of Appeal, by majority, held that the 2007 wills constituted mutual wills, finding sufficient evidence of an agreement that the dispositions were intended to be irrevocable upon the death of the first testator. The Court emphasised that irrevocability need not be expressly stated in the wills and may be established through surrounding circumstances and credible extrinsic evidence. Upon the first wife’s death, a constructive trust arose, binding the deceased to the terms of the mutual wills and preventing any subsequent testamentary disposition inconsistent with that arrangement. The High Court’s decision validating the 2014 will was set aside and the appeals were allowed. YA Tuan Muniandy Kannyappan, JCA dissented.
Judges (3)
Counsel (6)
Cases Cited (6)
UK (5)
[1981] 2 All ER 1018 [2008] EWCA Civ 782 [2010] EWCA Civ 1410 [2010] EWHC 2154 [2017] 4 WLR 186
MY (1)
[2012] 8 MLJ 202
Judgment
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Read on eJudgmentSource: eJudgment (b-02ncvca-88-01-2023)