Estate Duty Act 1929 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 2 · Estate Duty
8. Property not deemed to pass
Feedback & supportProperty passing on the death of the deceased shall not be deemed to include property held by the deceased as trustee for another person, under a disposition not made by the deceased or under a disposition made by the deceased more than 5 years before his death where possession and enjoyment of the property was bona fide assumed by the beneficiary immediately upon the creation of the trust and thenceforward retained to the entire exclusion of the deceased or of any benefit to him by contract or otherwise.
property passing on the death
“property passing on the death” includes property passing either immediately on the death or after any interval, either certainly or contingently, and either originally or by way of substitutive limitation; and
In the case of a disposition made for public or charitable purposes, the words “5 years” in subsection (1) shall be read as “12 months”.
disposition
“disposition” includes any trust, covenant, agreement or arrangement;
In the case of settled property, where the interest of any person under the settlement fails or determines by reason of his death before it becomes an interest in possession, and subsequent limitations under the settlement continue to subsist, the property shall not be deemed to pass on his death.
settled
“settled”, when applied to property, means property comprised in a settlement;
Where by a disposition of any property an interest is conferred on any person other than the disponer for the life of that person or determinable on his death, and that person enters into possession of the interest and thenceforward retains possession thereof to the entire exclusion of the disponer or of any benefit to him by contract or otherwise, and the only benefit which the disponer retains in the property is subject to such life or determinable interest, and no other interest is created by that disposition, then, on the death of that person, the property shall not be deemed to pass by reason only of its reverter to the disponer in his lifetime.
property
“property” includes movable and immovable property of any kind situate or being in Singapore and the proceeds of sale thereof respectively, and any money or investment for the time being representing the proceeds of sale; and, in the case of a deceased person who was at the time of his death domiciled in Singapore, includes movable property wherever it may be;
Where, by a disposition of any property, the interest mentioned in subsection (4) is conferred on 2 or more persons, either severally or jointly, or in succession, that subsection shall apply in like manner as where the interest is conferred on one person.
Subsections (4) and (5) shall not apply where such person or persons taking such life or determinable interest had at any time prior to the disposition been himself or themselves competent to dispose of such property.