A shift in the objective deduction of secondary fact in presumption

The paper looks at the resulting-trust analysis adopted by the Supreme Court in the case of Prest v Petrodel Resources and argues that there is an inclination to an objectively deductive measure of inferred intention of the transferor. The presumed ownership for the transferor is based neither on intention inconsistent with a trust nor on intention to make a gift by the transferor; rather, the inferred intention is based on the objective deduction of the respondent-company not using property consistent with its beneficial ownership. The shift to the context-based application of objective inference is hidden in an unarticulated application of presumption in contextual-neutrality.