Gift from husband to wife is hers, not theirs
GIFTS from a spouse become part of the recipient's assets, and so cannot be lumped with matrimonial assets to be tallied and divvied up by the court when a couple divorce.
This ruling rang clearly in a High Court judgment released on Thursday, in the case of a woman who has been allowed to keep shares given to her by her husband during their 36-year marriage.
Madam Wan Lai Cheng, 62, was given a percentage of shares in three companies, each of which owns a unit in an upscale condominium.
Of the three apartments, two are in Hampton Court near the Tanglin Club, and the third, at The Riverwalk by the Singapore River.
Madam Wan and her then husband, Mr Quek Seow Kee, had their matrimonial home in a Hampton Court penthouse. The penthouse and the two other Hampton Court units were together valued at $28 million more than two years ago when, represented by lawyer Luna Yap, she sued him for divorce on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour.
Mr Quek, 62, is the grandson of an ex-chairman and co-founder of the now defunct Overseas Union Bank, Mr Quek Bak Song. The patriarch, who owned a bungalow on the land on which Hampton Court now stands, died in 1980, aged 78. The plot of land was turned into the high-end housing development, comprising 12 units, by the grandson, his brothers and their mother.
GIFTS from a spouse become part of the recipient's assets, and so cannot be lumped with matrimonial assets to be tallied and divvied up by the court when a couple divorce.
This ruling rang clearly in a High Court judgment released on Thursday, in the case of a woman who has been allowed to keep shares given to her by her husband during their 36-year marriage.
Madam Wan Lai Cheng, 62, was given a percentage of shares in three companies, each of which owns a unit in an upscale condominium.
Of the three apartments, two are in Hampton Court near the Tanglin Club, and the third, at The Riverwalk by the Singapore River.
Madam Wan and her then husband, Mr Quek Seow Kee, had their matrimonial home in a Hampton Court penthouse. The penthouse and the two other Hampton Court units were together valued at $28 million more than two years ago when, represented by lawyer Luna Yap, she sued him for divorce on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour.
Mr Quek, 62, is the grandson of an ex-chairman and co-founder of the now defunct Overseas Union Bank, Mr Quek Bak Song. The patriarch, who owned a bungalow on the land on which Hampton Court now stands, died in 1980, aged 78. The plot of land was turned into the high-end housing development, comprising 12 units, by the grandson, his brothers and their mother.
