Commissioner of Stamp Duties (QLD) v Jolliffe

The Commissioner of Stamp Duties (QLD) appealed to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the Supreme Court of Queensland. The dispute concerned the assessment of stamp duty on the estate of the late Mrs. Hannah Jolliffe. Her husband, Edwin Alfred Jolliffe, had opened a savings account in his wife's name as trustee, depositing his own funds into it. After his wife's death, he withdrew the funds, and the Commissioner sought to include this sum in her dutiable estate.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether Mr. Jolliffe was precluded, by the provisions of the Queensland Government Savings Bank Act 1916 and the documents he signed, from asserting that he was not a trustee of the moneys deposited in the account for his wife. This question arose despite findings of fact that Mr. Jolliffe had no intention of making a gift to his wife and opened the account solely to obtain interest.

A majority of the High Court, comprising Knox C.J. and Gavan Duffy J., held that the respondent was not concluded from averring that he was not a trustee. They reasoned that no trust can be created contrary to the real intention of the person alleged to have created it, and that the Act did not create a statutory trust against the depositor's intention, even if it entitled the bank to treat him as a trustee. Isaacs J., dissenting, found that Mr. Jolliffe's declaration was an unambiguous declaration of trust, and that evidence of his undisclosed intention could not override this declaration. He also considered that Mr. Jolliffe should not be permitted to rely on evidence of his own dishonesty.

The High Court, by majority, dismissed the appeal. The decision of the Supreme Court of Queensland, which found that the moneys did not form part of the intestate's estate, was affirmed.