SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Loh Wai Mooi, Wang Liansheng, Petrina Tan and Vaithieiswariy Kumar, Bih Li & Lee LLP
Trusts Although the family justice courts remain open to concepts such as a resulting trust in favour of one spouse, where it is alleged that a third party holds a property on resulting trust for one spouse, a separate third-party civil action may need to be taken in order to ascertain the beneficial ownership of the property. Where the parties to the trust are the spouses them ‑ selves, the same may be more appropriately regarded and classified as a gift made by one spouse to the other – in which case, it will be returned to the mat ‑ rimonial pool for division along with other significant gifts ( Yeo Gim Tong Michael v Tianzon Lolita (1996) SGCA 14). If a trust property is held by one party for the benefit of the spouse or children, it is also likely that the same would be considered matrimonial property (subject to the nature of the trust – for example, whether the trust is revocable or otherwise). 2.4 Spousal Maintenance In Singapore, the only persons who may apply for maintenance are current or former wives, or incapaci ‑ tated husbands. An incapacitated husband is defined in the Women’s Charter 1961 as a husband who: • during the marriage, becomes: (a) incapable of earning a livelihood, owing to any physical or mental disability or illness; and (b) unable to maintain himself; and • continues to be unable to maintain himself. The courts have interpreted the definition of an inca ‑ pacitated husband to mean that the husband should be incapacitated from earning a livelihood before fall ‑ ing under the definition provided above ( USA v USB (2020) 4 SLR 288). In this respect, a certain degree of permanence should be met before a husband would be deemed “incapacitated”. Nonetheless, other cir ‑ cumstances – such as the husband’s level of educa ‑ tion and the corresponding type of work he is likely to perform – may also be taken into account ( VJF v VJG (2020) SGFC 54) in determining whether maintenance would be payable.
• any agreement between the parties with respect to the ownership and division of matrimonial assets made in contemplation of divorce; • the assistance or support one spouse provided to the other; and • the factors considered in the granting of mainte ‑ nance orders. Identifying Assets Matrimonial assets would include: • any asset acquired during the marriage by one or both parties; • any asset acquired before the marriage but ordi ‑ narily used or enjoyed during the marriage by both parties or their children for shelter, transportation, household, education, recreational, social or aes ‑ thetic purposes; • any asset acquired before the marriage that has been substantially improved during the marriage by the other party or by both parties to the marriage; and • the matrimonial home. Gifts or inheritance monies received during the mar ‑ riage and which have not been substantially improved on during the marriage would ordinarily not be clas ‑ sified as a matrimonial asset. A matrimonial home is the exception to the rule (subject to any third-party interests). Parties are expected to list all their assets in their FAA. In situations where a party has chosen not to par ‑ ticipate in proceedings, the court may make orders for the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board to pro ‑ vide disclosure of the non-participating spouse’s CPF monies or information pertaining to the use of the said CPF monies. Property Regimes Singapore adopts a “deferred community of property” approach, whereby all matrimonial property is treated as community property (unless otherwise taken out of the pool) upon the termination of the marriage ( Lock Yeng Fun v Chua Hock Chye (2007) 3 SLR(R) 520). The regime is reflected in the provisions in Section 112 of the Women’s Charter 1961 and applied accordingly.
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