Harry Elias Partnership Partner and Co-Head of Family and Matrimonial Law Koh Tien Hua and Senior Associate Chew Wei En were mentioned in the Straits Times article titled “Cohabitation not counted when dividing marriage assets: Court”. The article was first published on 29 June 2020.
Cohabitation not counted when dividing marriage assets: Court
Singapore’s top court has ruled that a couple’s cohabitation period before marriage is not counted as part of the duration of a marriage when considering how much a spouse gets from their matrimonial assets on divorce.
The length of the marriage is a key factor in dividing matrimonial assets between a divorcing couple based on their direct and indirect contributions during the time span.
The Court of Appeal’s ruling was given in a case earlier this month, in which a couple had cohabited for about 12 years before marrying.
They were husband and wife for about 5½ years before divorcing in 2016.
Below is an excerpt from the article which highlights the involvement of Tien Hua and Wei En:
“Earlier, the High Court held part of the value of each of the disputed assets should be included in the matrimonial pool as the mortgage payouts had continued into the marriage period, among other things.
The court assessed the total value of their matrimonial assets to be $9.6 million and ruled the husband was entitled to 11 per cent of it, based on his contributions during the marriage.
Both sides appealed, with lawyers Koh Tien Hua and Chew Wei En representing the wife, and lawyers Josephine Chong and Esther Yeo arguing for the husband at the January hearing.
The Appeal Court, noting it was a short marriage, affirmed the assets should be divided 89:11 in favour of the wife.”
Full article can be found here.
Source: The Straits Times
Author: K.C. Vijayan