Hou Wa Yi v Yap Kiat Cheong

JurisdictionSingapore
Judgment Date27 March 2012
Date27 March 2012
Docket NumberDivorce No 2201 of 2005 (Registrar's Appeal Subordinate Courts No 182 of 2011)
CourtHigh Court (Singapore)
Hou Wa Yi
Plaintiff
and
Yap Kiat Cheong (Yap Chai Ling and another, interveners)
Defendant

Choo Han Teck J

Divorce No 2201 of 2005 (Registrar's Appeal Subordinate Courts No 182 of 2011)

High Court

Family Law—Divorce—Decree absolute and decree nisi—Death of party to marriage after decree nisi and before decree absolute—Whether court had power to make decree nisi absolute after death of party to marriage—Section 7 Women's Charter (Cap 353, 1997 Rev Ed)

The wife filed for divorce and obtained a decree nisi. The husband died. Probate was granted to the husband's executors. The executors applied to intervene and sought an order to make the decree nisi absolute. The district judge dismissed the application on the ground that the court had no power to make absolute the decree nisi.The executors appealed.

Held, dismissing the appeal:

(1) The decree nisi was an inchoate order and, until it was made absolute, might be overtaken by the event of death. The proper reading of s 7 of the Women's Charter (Cap 353, 1997 Rev Ed) was that a marriage was dissolved on the occurrence of any of the three events stipulated in ss 7 (a)-7 (c). Death of a party to the marriage and a court order were two such events. The court order finally dissolving a marriage was the decree absolute and not the decree nisi because the decree nisi would not dissolve the marriage if the court had reasons not to grant the decree absolute, rare as that might be: at [5].

(2) Section 99 (3) the Women's Charter did not assist the appellants because it applied only if the death of a party to the marriage had not intervened. Section 99 concerned applications to make decree nisi absolute and the powers of the court after hearing the parties, which included rescinding the decree nisi or making it absolute: at [6].

(3) The court in Sivakolunthu Kumarasamy v Shanmugam Nagaiah [1987] SLR (R)702 (‘Sivakolunthu’) did not say that a decree nisi legally terminated a marriage. The court only held that the decree nisi practically terminated the marriage. Furthermore, the court was not considering the same issue presently raised. Instead, the issue before the court there was whether an order for the division of matrimonial assets made under s 106 (1) of the Women's Charter (Cap 353, 1970 Rev Ed) was valid and enforceable when made upon a decree nisi.The court had to interpret s 106 (1) of the Women's Charter (Cap 353, 1970 Rev Ed), not s 7 of the Women's Charter which was...

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4 cases
  • Yap Chai Ling and another v Hou Wa Yi
    • Singapore
    • Court of Appeal (Singapore)
    • 5 July 2016
    ...the High Court and their appeal was dismissed on 27 March 2012 (see Hou Wa Yi v Yap Kiat Cheong (Yap Chai Ling and another, interveners) [2012] 2 SLR 995 (“Hou Wa Yi 2012 HC”)). We will return to this decision shortly as it is germane to Issue 3. Meanwhile, on 18 August 2011, the Respondent......
  • Yap Chai Ling and another v Hou Wa Yi
    • Singapore
    • High Court (Singapore)
    • 12 November 2015
    ...which was dismissed by the High Court on 27 March 2012 (see Hou Wa Yi v Yap Kiat Cheong (Yap Chai Ling and another, interveners) [2012] 2 SLR 995). On 27 September 2012, the appellant filed Summons No 13074/2012/H to enforce the Ancillary Orders. In the meantime, on 18 August 2011, the Wife......
  • Yap Chai Ling and another v Hou Wa Yi
    • Singapore
    • Court of Three Judges (Singapore)
    • 5 July 2016
    ...the High Court and their appeal was dismissed on 27 March 2012 (see Hou Wa Yi v Yap Kiat Cheong (Yap Chai Ling and another, interveners) [2012] 2 SLR 995 (“Hou Wa Yi 2012 HC”)). We will return to this decision shortly as it is germane to Issue 3. Meanwhile, on 18 August 2011, the Respondent......
  • Yap Chai Ling and another v Hou Wa Yi
    • Singapore
    • High Court (Singapore)
    • 12 November 2015
    ...which was dismissed by the High Court on 27 March 2012 (see Hou Wa Yi v Yap Kiat Cheong (Yap Chai Ling and another, interveners) [2012] 2 SLR 995). On 27 September 2012, the appellant filed Summons No 13074/2012/H to enforce the Ancillary Orders. In the meantime, on 18 August 2011, the Wife......
1 books & journal articles
  • Family Law
    • Singapore
    • Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review No. 2012, December 2012
    • 1 December 2012
    ...or death 16.4 The legal effect of a decree nisi of divorce or an interim judgment of divorce was clarified in Hou Wa Yi v Yap Kiat Cheong[2012] 2 SLR 995 (‘Hou Wa Yi’). In this case, the husband died after a decree nisi was granted. Probate was granted to the husband's executors, who applie......

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