TPY v TPZ

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Masayu Norashikin
• Judgment Date: 27 June 2016
• Neutral Citation: [2016] SGFC 79
• Court: Family Court (Singapore)
• Hearing Date: 07 April 2016,15 February 2016,09 October 2015,26 April 2016,02 September 2015,15 May 2015,06 July 2015
• Docket Number: Divorce Suit No 4546/2011
• Plaintiff Counsel: Cheong Yen Lin Adriene and Michelle Ng (M/s Harry Elias Partnership LLP)
• Defendant Counsel: Gulab Sobhraj and Low Wan Kwong Michael (M/s Crossbows LLP)
• Subject Matter: Family Law,intense acrimony between parties over access,division of matrimonial assets,maintenance for ex-wife,maintenance for child
• Published date: 23 July 2016

District Judge Masayu Norashikin: PRELIMINARY REMARKS

I heard the ancillary matters of this case over several tranches of hearings and delivered my decision together with written grounds therefor on 15 February 2016. The Plaintiff husband then requested further arguments which I allowed for certain matters. After hearing further arguments, I revised some of my earlier orders, and gave my decision together with written grounds for the same on 26 April 2016.

Cumulatively, the orders I made in respect of the ancillary matters are as follows.

Custody, care and control, access

(1) Parties shall have joint custody of the child of the marriage, xxx, with care and control to the Defendant. (2) The Plaintiff shall have access as follows:- a. On weekends from Friday 7.30 pm to Saturday 7.30 pm, to alternate with Saturday 7.30 pm to Sunday 7.30 pm. b. Once every 6 months, either party will get the entire weekend from Friday evening to Sunday evening with the child, subject to the child’s school and examination schedules. The Defendant shall handover the child’s passport to the Plaintiff at the start of such access if he is travelling overseas with the child, and the Plaintiff shall return the passport to the Defendant at the end of such access. c. First half of the child’s school holidays. The calculation of the period of school holidays shall include the weekend preceding the closure of school. For the year-end school holidays, the child will spend Christmas eve with the parent who has that half of the school holidays in that year. d. Alternate public holidays from 9.30 am to 7.30 pm, with the exception of Christmas Day, where the Husband will spend the first half of Christmas Day with the child until 4 pm, and the Wife will spend the second half from 4 pm onwards. e. The Plaintiff is to pick up the child at the commencement of access and the Defendant shall pick up the child at the end of access. f. In the event the child is ill and there is a medical certificate with the diagnosis, the Plaintiff shall not have access and there will be make up access when the child is well, subject to the child’s school and examination schedules. The Plaintiff shall notify the Defendant of such make up access at least 5 days in advance. g. Each party shall be at liberty to take the child abroad during his/her share of the child’s school holidays, with the travel itinerary to be furnished to the other party 7 days prior to travelling with the child. The Defendant shall handover the child’s passport to the Plaintiff 2 days before the scheduled trip and the Plaintiff shall return the passport to the Defendant 2 days after the scheduled trip or at the end of access, whichever is earlier. h. Parties’ alternate public holiday access to the child shall be held in abeyance in the event that a party takes the child abroad during his/her half of the school holidays. There shall be no make-up access for the access missed by any party as a result of this provision. i. During access, the Plaintiff shall ensure that the child’s allocated school tasks are completed. j. If the child has school work to be completed or has tests or examinations after the school holidays, then each party shall ensure that the child does the necessary schoolwork or revision during their respective half of the school holiday. (3) Messrs Crossbow LLC shall forthwith handover the child’s passport to the Defendant who shall hold it as the parent having care and control. (4) Each party shall have reasonable telephone access to the child when the child is with the other parent. Each party shall provide a mobile telephone number and a landline number at which the child will be contactable to the other party. (5) The Defendant shall provide the Plaintiff with a copy of the child’s school report book and any other school results. The Defendant shall also inform the Plaintiff of any upcoming parent-teacher meetings and any other school events where parents’ attendance is invited, within 2 days of being aware of the same. Both the Plaintiff and the Defendant shall be entitled to attend such meetings or events. (6) The Defendant shall inform the Plaintiff within 24 hours or as soon as practicable, in the event the child encounters any major medical or major health issues.

Maintenance of the child

(7) The Plaintiff shall pay the Defendant $2,440 a month for the maintenance of the child, with effect from 16 October 2015 and thereafter on the 16th day of each month, until the sale of the xxx Condominium, or until such time as the Plaintiff moves out of the property, whichever is earlier. From the month following the completion of such sale or the Plaintiff moving out, the monthly maintenance amount shall be $1,900. Payment shall be deposited into the Defendant’s designated bank account. (8) The Plaintiff shall pay the Defendant the arrears of maintenance of $960 (difference of $240 from October 2015 to January 2016) forthwith.

Division of matrimonial assets

(9) The matrimonial home at xxx shall be sold in the open market within 6 months of the Certificate of Final Judgment. The proceeds of sale shall be used to pay the costs and expenses of sale. The balance thereafter shall be divided in the proportion 43.25% to the Plaintiff and 56.75% to the Defendant. Parties shall refund their respective CPF accounts of all monies utilised for the purchase, including accrued interest, from their own shares. Parties shall have joint conduct of the sale. (10) The Defendant shall be given the first option of retaining the property at xxx Condominium, xxx without any consideration from the Defendant to the Plaintiff and without any refund to the Plaintiff’s CPF account of all monies utilised for the purchase, including accrued interest. In that event, the Defendant shall take over the outstanding mortgage loan and shall bear the costs and expenses of the transfer. Such transfer (otherwise than by way of sale) shall take place within 3 months of the Certificate of Final Judgment. In the event the Defendant does not exercise the option, the property shall be sold in the open market within 6 months thereafter. The proceeds of sale shall be utilised to pay the outstanding mortgage loan and the costs and expenses of sale. The balance thereafter shall be retained by the Defendant. The monies utilised by the Plaintiff from his CPF account, including accrued interest, shall not be refunded into his CPF account but shall be paid into the Defendant’s CPF account. The Defendant shall have sole conduct of the sale. (11) The Defendant’s rights, title and interest in the property at xxx, shall be transferred to the Plaintiff without any consideration. The transfer shall take place within 3 months of the Certificate of Final Judgment and the Plaintiff shall bear the costs of the transfer. (12) The joint bank accounts shall be closed and the balances therein shall be retained by the Plaintiff. (13) The stakeholding monies in the sums of $62,528.13 and $40,994.36 held by the Defendant’s solicitors shall be released to the Defendant within 14 days of the date of this order. (14) Parties shall retain all other assets in their respective names or possession. (15) In the event either party fails to sign documents relating to the sale or transfer of any of the properties upon being given 14 days’ written notice, the Registrar or Assistant Registrar of the Family Justice Courts shall be empowered to do so on behalf of the defaulting party.

Maintenance for the Defendant

(16) There shall be no maintenance for the Defendant.

Others

(17) The Plaintiff shall move out of the xxx condominium within 3 months of the Certificate of Final Judgment. (18) Costs fixed at $1,800 to be paid by the Defendant to the Plaintiff forthwith for the Interim Judgment. (19) Each party to bear his/her own costs of the ancillary matter proceedings. (20) Liberty to apply.

Both the Husband and the Wife appealed against the whole of my decision. I had informed parties’ solicitors that in the event of any appeal, I would be relying on both written grounds of decision furnished to them on 15 February 2016 and 26 April 2016. Both are reproduced below in their totality.

A. GROUNDS OF DECISION DATED 15 FEBRUARY 2016

Introduction

1. The ancillary matters in this case were before me for hearing on 15 May 2015, 6 July 2015, 2 September 2015, and 9 October 2015. I reserved my decision, which I now set down below together with the reasons therefor. 2. All the ancillary matters were outstanding, save that there were interim orders in place for access and the child’s maintenance. 3. At the outset, I set out the orders I am making today. By way of reference, the Plaintiff is the husband, and the Defendant is the wife. I shall subsequently refer to parties as the Husband and Wife respectively. My orders are:

Custody, care and control, access

(1) Parties shall have joint custody of the child of the marriage, xxx, with care and control to the Defendant. (2) The Plaintiff shall have access as follows:- k. On weekends from Friday 7.30 pm to Saturday 7.30 pm, to alternate with Saturday 7.30 pm to Sunday 7.30 pm. l. Once every 6 months, either party will get the entire weekend from Friday evening to Sunday evening with the child, subject to the child’s school and examination schedules. The Defendant shall handover the child’s passport to the Plaintiff at the start of such access if he is travelling overseas with the child, and the Plaintiff shall return the passport to the Defendant at the end of such access. m. First half of the child’s school holidays. The calculation of the period of school holidays shall include the weekend preceding the...