Gian Bee Choo and others v Meng Xianhui
Jurisdiction | Singapore |
Court | High Court (Singapore) |
Judge | Tan Siong Thye J |
Judgment Date | 31 July 2019 |
Neutral Citation | [2019] SGHC 179 |
Citation | [2019] SGHC 179 |
Docket Number | Suit No 487 of 2018 |
Hearing Date | 05 July 2019,28 May 2019,30 May 2019,29 May 2019 |
Plaintiff Counsel | Kelvin Lee Ming Hui and Ong Xin Ying Samantha (WNLEX LLC) |
Defendant Counsel | George Reny Margaret and Melvyn Low Kok Keong (Belinda Ang Tang & Partners LLC) |
Subject Matter | Family Law,Marriage,Nullity |
Published date | 08 August 2019 |
The central dispute is whether the marriage (“the Marriage”) between the deceased, Mr Gian Beng Hwee (“the Deceased”), and the defendant, Ms Meng Xianhui (“the Defendant”) was a sham marriage. If so, the next critical issue is whether the Marriage is valid.
The Marriage was solemnised on 20 January 2007.1 The first to fourth plaintiffs (“the Plaintiffs”) are the Deceased’s siblings. They did not attend the wedding and were completely unaware of the Marriage. The Deceased’s sudden death from a heart attack in 2017 came as a shock to the Plaintiffs. They received another shock when the Defendant turned up at the Deceased’s funeral wake and claimed to be his wife. The Plaintiffs had known the Deceased to be a bachelor before his demise. In this action the Plaintiffs seek the following reliefs:
The First Declaration requires the court to determine whether the Marriage was a sham marriage. This is a question of fact. The Second Declaration raises important legal issues, such as whether a sham marriage is a valid or void marriage under the Women’s Charter (Cap 353, 2009 Rev Ed) (“Women’s Charter”) and whether a party to a sham marriage is a “surviving spouse” under s 7 of the Intestate Succession Act (Cap 146, 2013 Rev Ed) (“ISA”) and a “wife” under s 73 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act (Cap 61, 1994 Rev Ed) (“CLPA”). These provisions are relevant in determining whether the Defendant is entitled to the Deceased’s estate (under the ISA), CPF moneys (under the Central Provident Fund Act (Cap 36, 2013 Rev Ed) (“CPF Act”)) and life insurance proceeds (under the CLPA).
At the outset, the terminology used in this judgment ought to be clarified. The term sham marriage is not a term of art (
I shall now refer to the facts of this case.
Facts Brief backgroundThe Deceased was a Singapore citizen. The Plaintiffs are his siblings. The Deceased passed away intestate on 23 December 2017.2 From 1973 to 2017, the Deceased, whom his family and friends regarded as a bachelor, lived with the first plaintiff (“PW1”) and his late mother at the flat in Whampoa Drive (“the Whampoa flat”).3
The Defendant is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China (“China”). She has two sons, aged 33 and 18 as of 2019, from a previous marriage.4 She first came to Singapore in 2004. According to her, she was granted a five-year permit as a “study mama” to her younger son.5 The Defendant and her younger son stayed at a five-room flat owned by her younger sister, Ms Meng Yutong (“DW2”) at Admiralty Drive (“DW2’s flat”).6
The MarriageThe Marriage was solemnised on 20 January 2007. The witnesses to the Marriage were DW2 and her then-husband, Mr Lee Chee Wah (“DW3”).7
It is not disputed that the Deceased’s family and friends were not present at the marriage ceremony and the wedding lunch thereafter.8 The only attendees were the Defendant’s relatives and a friend.9
Events after the Marriage was solemnisedNotwithstanding that they were married, the Deceased continued to live in the Whampoa flat with his late mother and PW1, while the Defendant and her younger son continued to stay with DW2 at DW2’s flat. However, the address stated in the Defendant’s Singapore National Registration Identity Card (“NRIC”) was the Whampoa flat.10 At that time, the Deceased also owned a three-room flat in Potong Pasir which was purchased in 1999 and sold in 2016 (“the Potong Pasir flat”).11 Nevertheless, the Deceased and the Defendant did not live in the Potong Pasir flat as well.
The Defendant applied for PR on 6 June 200712 and obtained PR status on 21 April 2009, which was renewed in 2014.13 She remains a PR to date.14
In or around August 2011, the Defendant returned to China. She came back to Singapore in November 2014 to renew her PR status and left for China in January 2015.15 The Deceased’s mother passed away in 2012 and the Defendant did not return to Singapore for the funeral.
The Deceased was declared a bankrupt in June 2017 by way of Order of Court No 3889 of 2017.
The Deceased’s death and funeralThe Deceased passed away intestate on 23 December 2017. His funeral was held from 23 to 27 December 2017.16
The Deceased’s niece, Ms Low Hui Ying (“PW2”), had used the Deceased’s mobile phone to send a message to all of his phone contacts to inform them of the Deceased’s demise and the details of the funeral.17 The Defendant’s sister, DW2, was one of those in the Deceased’s contacts in his phone. However, the Defendant was not in the Deceased’s phone contact list. Upon receiving the message, DW2 informed the Defendant about the Deceased’s passing and the details of the funeral.18
The Defendant turned up at the Deceased’s funeral wake on the night of 26 December 2017 at about 11pm, along with DW2, DW3, her brother-in-law Mr Jeffrey Ng (“DW4”) and her younger sister. When the Defendant informed the Plaintiffs that she was the Deceased’s wife, they were shocked as they never knew that he was ever married.19
The last ceremonial rites and cremation took place on 27 December 2017 and the Defendant alleged that she was not allowed to attend.20 At 3.44pm of the same day, the Defendant went to the CPF Board to reset her SingPass password and to enquire about the Deceased’s moneys with the CPF Board.21
On 10 May 2018, an interim injunction was granted to the Plaintiffs to restrain the Defendant from withdrawing, encumbering, disposing of, transferring, charging or otherwise dealing with the Deceased’s CPF moneys and/or his insurance policy proceeds/moneys.22
The parties’ cases The Plaintiffs’ case The Marriage was a sham marriage The Plaintiffs contend that the Marriage was a sham marriage, relying principally on the following points:
Although the Deceased had not told his mother and siblings about the Marriage, it transpired that he had told at least three individuals about it. The Plaintiffs called them as witnesses.
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