Application of Karla Marie Tate and Hyun Jong Chung [2015] NSWSC 639

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Application of Karla Marie Tate and Hyun Jong Chung [2015] NSWSC 639 Hearing dates: 22 May 2015 Date of orders: 27 May 2015 Decision date: 27 May 2015 Jurisdiction: Equity Division Before: Slattery J Decision: See paragraph [52] of judgment. Catchwords: SUCCESSION – Wills, probate and administration – construction and effect of testamentary dispositions – request for judicial advice under Trustee Act s 63 –whether trust deed permitted trustees to substitute other persons for the principal beneficiaries named in the trust deed – whether words erroneously included in trust deed should be ignored in construction of the Deed – whether trustees entitled to refuse to treat the death of a principal beneficiary named in the trust deed as requiring winding up – whether a contingent interest of the principal beneficiary to receive any share of the income or corpus of the trust fund lapsed upon the beneficiary's death. Legislation Cited: Trustee Act 1925, s 63 Cases Cited: SUCCESSION – Wills, probate and administration – construction and effect of testamentary dispositions – request for judicial advice under Trustee Act s 63 –whether trust deed permitted trustees to substitute other persons for the principal beneficiaries named in the trust deed – whether words erroneously included in trust deed should be ignored in construction of the Deed – whether trustees entitled to refuse to treat the death of a principal beneficiary named in the trust deed as requiring winding up – whether a contingent interest of the principal beneficiary to receive any share of the income or corpus of the trust fund lapsed upon the beneficiary's death. Texts Cited: RJA Morrison & HJ Goolden, Norton on Deeds, (2nd ed 1928, Wm. W. Gaunt & Sons) JD Heydon and MJ Leeming, Jacob's Law of Trusts in Australia, (7th ed, 2006, LexisNexis Butterworths). Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: First plaintiff: Karla Marie Tate Second plaintiff: Hyun Jong Chung Representation: Counsel: First and Second Plaintiffs: J.E. Thomson