District Judge Jason Gabriel Chiang:
Introduction
The key dispute in this case largely revolved around the division of the matrimonial home, and whether the marriage would be classified as a single or dual-income marriage for the application of the relevant legal principles.
The 1st set of Written Submissions was filed by the Plaintiff Wife on 5 August 2021 and by the Defendant Husband on 10 August 2021 (the “1st Submissions” respectively). After hearing parties’ counsel on 12 August 2021, I had directed for a 2nd set of Written Submissions, which was filed by the Plaintiff Wife on 21 September and the Defendant Husband on 4 October 2021 (the “2nd Submissions” respectively).
Having considered the 1st and 2nd Submissions as well as oral arguments, on 7 October 2021, I rendered my decision for the Ancillary Matters in Order of Court, FC/ORC 5486/2021 (“ORC 5486”) as follows with some clarifications on the wording of ORC 5486 provided by Registrar’s Notice on 18 October 2021 (the “Registrar’s Notice”): A. Custody, care and control of the Child By consent, the Plaintiff Wife (the “Wife”) and the Defendant Husband (the “Husband”) shall have joint custody of the 2 children of the marriage: the son, then aged 10 (the “Son”) and the daughter, then aged 7 (the “Daughter”) (collectively referred to as the “Children”). By consent, the Wife shall have care and control of the Children. The Husband shall have liberal unsupervised access to the Children as follows: During the school term, the Husband shall have access to the Children provided that: it does not disrupt the Children’s school schedule and activities; and the Husband has access to the Children at least twice a week and also has unsupervised overnight access from Friday after school to Sunday 5 pm, on one (1) weekend every month, depending on the Husband’s fluctuating work schedule. There shall be liberal telephone and electronic access. Half of the School Vacation periods of March, May to June, September and November to December school vacations, inclusive of overnight access. Such arrangements will be determined by parties. Beginning March 2022, Parties are at liberty to travel with the Children during their time with the Children. Prior to such travel, each party shall provide the other with the dates of travel and the relevant details, including but not limited to the itinerary, flight/vehicle information, accommodation details, travel plans and emergency contact details. The Party shall provide advance notice of such overseas travel at least one (1) month in advance of intended overseas travel. The further details shall be furnished two (2) weeks in advance of such travel. The Wife shall handover the Children’s passports for such overseas travel with the Husband at least one (1) week prior to the intended travel and the Husband shall return the Children’s passports within a week of their return to Singapore. The Husband shall pick up the Children from the Children’s school or the Wife’s residence, as the case may be, and return the Children to the Wife’s residence, unless otherwise agreed in writing. Parties are at liberty to agree in writing on any further terms of access which supersede or supplement the orders above. B. Division of the Matrimonial Home Subject to the approval by the Housing Development Board (“HDB”) and the Husband meeting the eligibility requirements to take over the matrimonial executive condominium flat (the “Matrimonial Home”), the Wife shall transfer, other than by way of sale, all of her rights, title and interests in the Matrimonial Home to the Husband within three (3) months from the date of this Order, upon the Husband making payment of S$514,989.08 to the Wife (the “Transfer”). The Wife shall make the necessary refunds of her CPF account from such sums, as is necessary. The Husband shall bear the costs of the Transfer. In the event that the Husband is not eligible to take over the Matrimonial Home, subject to HDB’s approval, the Matrimonial Home shall be sold in the open market within six (6) months from the date of this Order. Parties shall have joint conduct of the sale of the Matrimonial Home. The sale proceeds of the Matrimonial Home shall be distributed as follows: To make full payment of the outstanding housing loan for the Matrimonial Home to the relevant bank; To pay the HDB resale levy, if any; To pay the requisite CPF refunds, including accrued interest, in accordance with the applicable CPF laws and regulations to the Parties’ respective CPF accounts; To pay for the costs and expenses of the sale of the Matrimonial Home, including the real estate agent’s commission and legal conveyancing costs, if any; and The remainder of the sale proceeds after deducting (a) to (d) above shall be apportioned as follows: 57.28% of the nett value of the Matrimonial Home after the deduction of (a), (b) and (c) and subsequently deducting the repaid sum in (d) to the Wife; and 42.72% of the nett value of the Matrimonial Home after the deduction of (a), (b) and (c) and subsequently deducting the repaid sum in (d) to the Husband; and Parties shall be at liberty to transfer sums from one party’s CPF account to the other party’s CPF account to give effect to this, if necessary. In the event that the Husband is not eligible to take over the Matrimonial Home, and Parties are unable to obtain HDB’s approval to sell the Matrimonial Home in the open market, the Matrimonial Home shall be surrendered to HDB within six months from the date of this Order (the “Surrender”). The compensation for the Surrender, as determined by HDB, shall be distributed as follows: To make full payment of the outstanding housing loan for the Matrimonial Home to the relevant bank; To pay the HDB resale levy, if any; To pay the requisite CPF refunds, including accrued interest, in accordance with the applicable CPF laws and regulations to the Parties’ respective CPF accounts; To pay for the costs and expenses of the sale of the Matrimonial Home, including the real estate agent’s commission and legal conveyancing costs, if any; and The remainder of the compensation for Surrender after deducting (a) to (d) above shall be apportioned as follows: 57.28% of the nett value of the Matrimonial Home after the deduction of (a), (b) and (c) and subsequently deducting the repaid sum in (d) to the Wife; and 42.72% of the nett value of the Matrimonial Home after the deduction of (a), (b) and (c) and subsequently deducting the repaid sum in (d) to the Husband; and Parties shall be at liberty to transfer sums from one party’s CPF account to the other party’s CPF account to give effect to this, if necessary; Any out-of-pocket expenses in relation to the Surrender shall be borne by Parties equally, save that the Parties shall each be responsible to make the necessary proportionate payments, if any, to their respective CPF accounts, in the event that the compensation amount for the Surrender is insufficient for the Parties to make the necessary full refunds, including accrued interest to their respective CPF accounts. Parties shall be at liberty to extend the relevant timelines stated above, by written agreement. The orders made herein are subject to the Central Provident Fund Act (Cap. 36) (the “CPF Act”) and the subsidiary legislation made thereunder. The CPF Board shall give effect to the terms of this order in accordance with the provisions of the CPF Act and the subsidiary legislation made thereunder. The Registrar or Deputy Registrar of the Family Justice Courts under Section 31 of the Family Justice Act (Act 27 of 2014) is empowered to execute, sign, or indorse all necessary documents relating to matters contained in this order on behalf of either party should either party fail to do so within 7 days of a written request being made to the other party.
C. Division of the matrimonial assets (aside from the matrimonial home) Parties shall retain all other assets in their own names. Parties shall have no future claims in relation to such assets.
D. Maintenance for Wife/Incapacitated Husband There shall be no maintenance for the Wife or the Husband. E. Maintenance of the Children The Husband shall pay a total of S$1,200.00 per month as maintenance for the Children as follows: S$600.00 for the Son; and S$600.00 for the Daughter.
F. Costs There shall be no order as to costs. Liberty to Apply.
The Wife being dissatisfied with my decision filed an appeal, HCF/DCA 138/2021 on 18 October 2021 against my orders made in ORC 5486, in relation to the following: apportioning the sale proceeds of the sale or surrender of the Matrimonial Home between the parties on the net amount of the sale proceeds or surrender compensation after CPF refunds instead of before the CPF refunds contrary to the equal division of the total matrimonial assets of the parties decided by the District Judge (“1st Appeal Grounds”); finding that a sum of $100,000 provided by the Husband's mother for the purchase of the Matrimonial Home was a loan to the Husband (“2nd Appeal Grounds”); refusing to claw back into and include in the pool of matrimonial assets the Husband's lumpsum withdrawal of the following sums from his Bank account in relation to: $20,000 withdrawn on 16th September 2019; $6,000 withdrawn on 16th September 2019; $1,000 each in 2 withdrawals on 18th July 2020; $1,000 each in 2 withdrawals on 19th July 2020; $1,000 each in 2 withdrawals on 20th July 2020; $1,000 each in 2 withdrawals on 23rd July 2020; $1,000 each in 3 withdrawals on 25th July 2020; $1,000 each in 2 withdrawals on 27th July 2020; $10,000 withdrawn on 24th February 2021; $1,000 each in 2 withdrawals on 22nd February 2021; $1,000 each in 2 withdrawals on 23rd February 2021; and $20,000 withdrawn on 14th August 2021. (“3rd Appeal Grounds”).
Even though the appeal is limited...
