Dealing with a minor’s land in Singapore

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article attempts to dispel the myth that a trustee holding land on trust for a minor could deal with it only with court approval. The source of this myth is a series of antiquated statutes suggesting that minors belong to a vulnerable group deserving of special protection. As the complex interpretive exercise reveals, much of the difficulty is in identifying the precise problem(s) intended to be addressed by these statutes, as this is not at all clear from their wording. Adding to the complexity is the location of the topic at the intersection between the old and the new, thus requiring attention to the divergences between Singaporean and post-1925 English laws, as well as the status of the general law within the Torrens system of title registration. As this discussion illustrates, the study of land law is often inextricably linked to the study of the history of land law.