Moyle v Quarles [No 5]

[2026] WASC 167

Supreme Court of Western Australia

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Estates
1. - Account as to loss and damage - Findings made as to liability of first
1. defendant for breaches of duty in his capacity as
1. executor and as director of

Quick Take

The Court held that an account on a wilful default basis for a fiduciary's failure to invest funds should be conducted on a 'clean slate' basis, assessing what the fiduciary should have done from the outset, unconstrained by the actual investment steps belatedly taken by the defaulting fiduciary. Adopting the fiduciary's actual sporadic investments would compound the breach by assuming the fiduciary would have continued to act in breach of duty. The Court also varied the pre-judgment interest order, holding that where the only realistic use of funds prior to distribution was reinvestment in term deposits, the applicable term deposit rate rather than 6% per annum was the appropriate pre-judgment interest rate for the period before distribution became possible, with 6% applying thereafter.