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An elderly woman, being idescisive about how to dispose of her property, left her residuary estate to her brother by Will, he knowing my wishes. The brother died shortly after the testatrix, so the question arose whether a trust obligation had been imposed on him. Of course, if there had been a trust it would have been a SecretTrust or perhaps ahalf secret trust, as there were no instructions in the will itself.

Megarry J held that the evidence available was insufficient to find a trust obligation. However, he also considered the nature of the evidence that would be required, and stated that the burden of proof lay with whoever sought to assert the existence of the trust (usually the secret beneficiary). The standard of proof, despite the doctrinal basis of the secret trust being the prevention of fraud, was the usual civil standard of balance of probabilities.