HONG KONG SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jeffrey Lee, Jessica Leung and Hilary Leung, Charles Russell Speechlys
9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children Children Born Out of Wedlock The mother of an illegitimate child will enjoy custody rights of the child, while the father can only enjoy such rights with the order of the court. In other words, an illegitimate child will automatically be recognised as the child of their birth mother, but will only be treated as the child of their birth father after a court order is in place. Nonetheless, illegitimate children now enjoy the same succession rights as legitimate children if their parents die after 19 June 1993. Adopted Children Generally speaking, and for the purpose of succes - sion, adopted children are treated as the children of their adoptive parents once an adoption order is made. Testators can, however, exclude adopted chil - Hong Kong only permits surrogacy arrangements that are non-commercial in nature. The surrogate moth - er is naturally regarded as the mother of the child under Section 9 of the Parent and Child Ordinance (PCO). Under Section 10 (2), if the surrogate mother is married at the time of her insemination or when the embryo or the sperm and egg are placed in her, and if the embryo is not brought about with the sperm of her husband, her husband will be regarded as the father of the surrogate child, unless it is shown that he did not consent to the placing of the embryo or the sperm and egg or to her insemination. Similarly, under Sec - tion 10 (3), if the surrogate mother is not married but received the treatment with her male partner and the embryo carried by her was not brought about with his sperm, her male partner will be regarded as the father of the surrogate child. However, the court may make a parental order under Section 12 to make the intended parents the legal parents of the surrogate child and permanently extin - guish the parenthood of the surrogate mother and her spouse/male partner. dren from their wills. Surrogate Children
administer the financial affairs and property of the MIP, such as: • bank accounts; • stocks and investments; • buying and selling properties; For a Committee to be appointed, the Mental Health Court of the High Court of Hong Kong will hear appli - cations made by family members, the Director of Social Welfare, the Official Solicitor or the guardian. Generally, the Committee will need to open a Commit - tee bank account, prepare accounts every year or, as may be ordered by the court, inform the court about any changes in the MIP’s financial situation and gen - eral condition. 8.3 Elder Law The Hong Kong government launched the Mandato - ry Provident Fund (MPF) scheme in December 2000, which all employees and self-employed persons who are 18 to 65 years old (except for exempted persons) are mandated to join. Each employee and employer is required to make regular mandatory contributions amounting to 5% of the employee’s relevant income. Employees have the right to choose from the constitu - ent funds offered under the MPF scheme selected by their employer. Generally speaking, MPF scheme members can only withdraw their accrued benefits when they reach the age of 65, but some would be allowed to do so if specified conditions are met (eg, permanent departure from Hong Kong). • settling utility bills; and • making tax payments. The HKMC Annuity Plan was introduced in July 2018, allowing retirees of 65 years old or above to receive guaranteed monthly annuity payments for life with the contribution of a single premium, as long as their policy remains in force.
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