Book Review of Trusts and Forced Heirship by Tey Tsun Hang

The Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore recently published a book review entitled, Book Review: Trusts and Asset Protection; Trusts and Forced Heirship by Tey Tsun Hang (Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, p. 596 (Dec. 2011). The abstract available on SSRN is below: 

The concept of forced heirship, which roots can be traced to the classic civil law systems, is that there is no freedom of testation except with respect to the disposable part of a testator’s patrimony. Usually, the heirs of the testator, i.e., those who share some close familial relationship with the testator, will be entitled to an indefeasible share in the testator’s estate upon his demise. In recent years, there has been a steady trend whereby settlors from forced heirship regimes have set up inter vivos trusts of moveable property in offshore anti-forced heirship regimes. The various models of anti-forced heirship legislation in these offshore financial centres have brought about a significant impact on the operation of forced heirship laws, and pose a number of serious concerns. This recent development has also led to the question of whether offshore anti-forced heirship trusts can survive challenges to their terms, especially if those terms are incompatible with that of the forced heirship regime which the settlor comes from.