Huang v Fu [2011] NSWSC 316

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Huang v Fu [2011] NSWSC 316 Hearing dates: 1-2 March 2011 Decision date: 31 March 2011 Jurisdiction: Equity Division Before: Rein J Decision: Declaration that the defendant holds the property as trustee for the plaintiff Catchwords: EQUITY - where the plaintiff is a foreign resident who provided all of the purchase price to the defendant for the purchase of a property under the defendant's name -no presumption of advancement asserted- whether the money was a gift from the plaintiff to the defendant or from the plaintiff's father to the defendant - whether the plaintiff is precluded from obtaining an interest in the property for not having notified and sought approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board pursuant to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth) - laches defence - where the plaintiff only brought his claim 15 years after the interest in the property was created, the absence of any assertion by the plaintiff that he was not entitled to an interest in the property when the plaintiff at an early stage sought to have his name on title Legislation Cited: Defence Service Homes Act 1918 (Cth) Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth) Property (Relationships) Act 1984 (NSW) Cases Cited: Calverley v Green (1984) 155 CLR 242 Fan v Tang [2010] NSWSC 11 Ikeuchi v Liu [2001] QSC 54 Nelson v Nelson [1995] HCA 25; (1995) 184 CLR 538 Texts Cited: J D Heydon & M J Leeming, Jacobs' Law of Trusts in Australia, 7th ed (2006), LexisNexis Butterworths Category: Principal judgment Parties: Powen Huang (plaintiff) Hsueh Fong Fu (defendant) Representation: Counsel: P G Cutler (plaintiff) D P O'Connor (defendant) Solicitors: Equiton Solicitors & Notary (plaintiff) Collins & Thompson (defendant) File Number(s): SC 2010/148809