Parents take daughter to court after 'gifted' house deposit dispute
A legal dispute between parents and their daughter regarding the ownership of a house in Glen Innes has reached the Court of Appeal. The case centers on whether the money provided by the parents for the property deposit was a gift or held under a resulting trust.
Why it matters
The case highlights the complexities of family financial arrangements and the legal implications of the 'presumption of advancement' in property ownership disputes.
When Pei-Ya Liao decided she wanted to make a move into property investment, she went to her parents for help.
Her parents, A-Wang Liao and Tan-Kuei Liao Lu, gave their 30-year-old daughter 10 percent of the purchase price of a Glen Innes house.
But some years later, they asked her to transfer the property to them, saying that it had been purchased "on the basis that it would belong to them and they would be the registered proprietor".
Liao did not transfer the property, and the battle over ownership went all the way to the Court of Appeal.
The key issue was whether, when the parents transferred the money to their daughter, she held the property on a "resulting trust", or whether it had been a gift.
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