AYD v AYE: Child Custody, Relocation to USA, and Access Rights Dispute

In the divorce case of AYD v AYE, the High Court of Singapore heard an appeal regarding the decision to grant the Wife, AYD, sole custody of their two sons and permission to relocate with them to the USA. The Husband, AYE, appealed against this decision. The court upheld the decision to allow the Wife to relocate with the sons but granted joint custody to both parents. The court dismissed the appeal in part and allowed it in part.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Appeal dismissed in part and allowed in part.

1.3 Case Type

Family

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Divorce case concerning the wife's request to relocate to the USA with the couple's two sons. The court granted the wife sole custody and permission to relocate.

1.7 Decision Date

28 February 2012

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
AYD	Petitioner, Wife	Individual	Sole custody granted; permission to relocate upheld	Partial	Ellen Lee of Ramdas & Wong
AYE	Respondent, Husband	Individual	Appeal dismissed in part; joint custody granted	Partial	Tan Bar Tien of B T Tan & Co

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Woo Bih Li	Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Ellen Lee	Ramdas & Wong
Tan Bar Tien	B T Tan & Co

4. Facts

The parties were married in Singapore on 6 January 1990.
The Wife filed for divorce in 2005.
A Decree Nisi was granted on 29 November 2005 and made absolute on 2 March 2010.
The Wife sought sole custody of the two sons and permission to relocate with them to the USA.
The Husband opposed the relocation, citing concerns about American culture and access to the children.
The Wife was the primary caregiver of the two sons.
The elder son was serving national service in Singapore.

5. Formal Citations

AYD v AYE, , [2012] SGHC 42

6. Timeline

Date	Event
1990-01-06	Parties married in Singapore
2005-01-01	Wife filed divorce petition
2005-11-29	Decree Nisi granted
2008-08-08	8/8/2008 Order for access made by consent
2010-03-02	Decree Nisi made absolute
2011-03-02	Husband filed Summons 3888 of 2011
2011-04-28	Wife filed Summons 7470 of 2011
2011-07-28	DJ Hing granted Wife sole custody and permission to relocate
2011-08-03	Husband filed RAS 131 of 2011 to appeal DJ Hing's order
2012-01-12	High Court varied DJ Hing’s decision, granting joint custody but upholding the rest of the order
2012-02-29	Judgment delivered

7. Legal Issues

Child Custody
- Outcome: The court granted joint custody to both parents, varying the lower court's decision of sole custody to the wife.
- Category: Substantive
Relocation of Children
- Outcome: The court upheld the decision to allow the wife to relocate with the children to the USA.
- Category: Substantive
Access Rights
- Outcome: The court made orders for access for the Husband to [S] who would be brought to the USA and for his access to [R] while [R] was in Singapore to serve his national service and when [R] goes to the USA.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Divorce
Sole Custody
Permission to Relocate
Access Rights

9. Cause of Actions

Divorce
Child Custody
Relocation

10. Practice Areas

Family Litigation
Divorce
Child Custody Disputes

11. Industries

No industries specified

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
No cited cases

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
No applicable statutes

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Child Custody
Relocation
Access Rights
Joint Custody
Sole Custody
Primary Caregiver
National Service

15.2 Keywords

divorce
child custody
relocation
access rights
family law
singapore
high court

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Family Law	95
Child Custody	90
Divorce	90
Child Support	70
Parenting	60

16. Subjects

Family Law
Divorce
Child Custody
Relocation