A DIVORCED businessman, reminded by a Family Court judge that he could be jailed for failing to pay maintenance to his former wife, promptly reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of $50 notes.
He was then three months - $1,200 in total - behind in his payments to her.
Divorce lawyer Malathi Das recalled this case from some years ago as an example of a former spouse who deliberately refused to pay maintenance even though he could well afford to.
She said: 'This unwillingness to pay maintenance is a perennial problem, and enforcement can be a tedious process for the ex-wife.'
Though the number of applications for enforcements has fallen, the problem is serious enough that the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan proposed in Parliament last month the setting up of a 'matrimonial credit bureau', which would make marital history records available so divorcees' subsequent spouses can do background checks on them.
In 2006, the number of such applications made to the Family Court was 4,073.
Last year, the figure fell to 3,266.
Lawyers put the decline down to a number of factors, including the possibility that women are not lodging complaints because they know it can be a difficult process.
They added, however, that it could be that more people are complying with maintenance orders.
On Monday, the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations suggested setting up a state agency to collect these maintenance payments. Penalties for defaults could include being named on a blacklist maintained by the bureau, it said.
He was then three months - $1,200 in total - behind in his payments to her.
Divorce lawyer Malathi Das recalled this case from some years ago as an example of a former spouse who deliberately refused to pay maintenance even though he could well afford to.
She said: 'This unwillingness to pay maintenance is a perennial problem, and enforcement can be a tedious process for the ex-wife.'
Though the number of applications for enforcements has fallen, the problem is serious enough that the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan proposed in Parliament last month the setting up of a 'matrimonial credit bureau', which would make marital history records available so divorcees' subsequent spouses can do background checks on them.
In 2006, the number of such applications made to the Family Court was 4,073.
Last year, the figure fell to 3,266.
Lawyers put the decline down to a number of factors, including the possibility that women are not lodging complaints because they know it can be a difficult process.
They added, however, that it could be that more people are complying with maintenance orders.
On Monday, the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations suggested setting up a state agency to collect these maintenance payments. Penalties for defaults could include being named on a blacklist maintained by the bureau, it said.
