TDT v TDS: Division of Matrimonial Assets and Wife's Maintenance Post-Divorce

In TDT v TDS, the Singapore Court of Appeal heard two appeals and one application arising from ancillary matters in a divorce proceeding, specifically concerning the division of matrimonial assets and maintenance. The husband, TDT, appealed against the High Court's valuation of company shares and the order to pay interim maintenance for the wife's daughter, Q. The wife, TDS, cross-appealed seeking a larger share of the matrimonial assets and nominal maintenance. The court allowed the wife's application to adduce fresh evidence, adjusted the valuation of certain assets, revised the division of assets to 65:35 in favor of the husband, denied the wife's claim for maintenance, and ordered a partial refund of interim maintenance paid for Q to the husband.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore

1.2 Outcome

Civil Appeal No 119 of 2015, Civil Appeal No 120 of 2015 and Summons No 15 of 2016 are allowed in part.

1.3 Case Type

Family

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Singapore Court of Appeal addresses division of matrimonial assets, wife's maintenance, and non-parent's duty to child in divorce.

1.7 Decision Date

25 May 2016

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
TDT	Appellant, Respondent	Individual	Appeal allowed in part	Partial	Eugene Thuraisingam of Eugene Thuraisingam LLP Mervyn Cheong of Eugene Thuraisingam LLP
TDS	Respondent, Applicant, Appellant	Individual	Appeal allowed in part	Partial	Josephine Chong Siew Nyuk of Josephine Chong LLC

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Andrew Phang Boon Leong	Judge of Appeal	Yes
Judith Prakash	Judge	No
Quentin Loh	Judge	No

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Eugene Thuraisingam	Eugene Thuraisingam LLP
Mervyn Cheong	Eugene Thuraisingam LLP
Josephine Chong Siew Nyuk	Josephine Chong LLC

4. Facts

The parties began a relationship in about 2003 and married on 17 October 2006.
There are no children from the marriage, but the Wife has a daughter, Q, from a previous relationship.
The Husband was ordered to pay interim maintenance of $12,500 per month, including $2,500 for Q.
The Wife applied for and obtained an expedited personal protection order against the Husband.
Divorce proceedings commenced on 27 September 2011, and interim judgment was granted on 18 December 2013.
The Admiralty Street property was transferred from BSPL to DPL after divorce proceedings commenced.
The Wife was involved in running APL and BSPL during the marriage.

5. Formal Citations

TDT v TDS and another appeal and another matter, , [2016] SGCA 35
TDT v TDS, Civil Appeal No 119 of 2015, Civil Appeal No 119 of 2015
TDS v TDT, Civil Appeal No 120 of 2015, Civil Appeal No 120 of 2015
TDS v TDT, Summons No 15 of 2016, Summons No 15 of 2016

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2003-01-01	Parties began a relationship.
2006-10-17	Parties married.
2006-10-01	Couple, Q, and Wife’s mother stayed together in an apartment unit at the Park Green condominium development.
2009-01-01	Couple moved to a house located at Lentor Vale.
2010-06-01	BSPL purchased a warehouse located at Admiralty Street.
2010-07-01	Wife allegedly diverted a specific business opportunity to another company.
2010-09-01	Wife and her sister purchased an apartment located at a condominium development at Hougang Street known as the Minton.
2010-11-13	The Andrews Terrace property was purchased.
2011-04-04	An incident occurred between the couple.
2011-05-01	Husband was to pay interim maintenance of $12,500 per month ($10,000 for the Wife and $2,500 for Q).
2011-07-20	BSPL commenced Suit No [B] of 2011 against the Wife and four other defendants.
2011-09-16	Suit No [C] of 2011 was commenced by BSPL against the Wife and five other defendants.
2011-09-27	Divorce proceedings commenced.
2012-04-01	The Admiralty Street property was transferred to DPL.
2013-04-01	BSPL discontinued Suit [B] as against the other defendants.
2013-12-18	Interim judgment for divorce was granted.
2013-12-01	The District Judge reduced the interim maintenance for the Wife and Q to $10,500 a month ($8,000 for the Wife and $2,500 for Q) with effect from November 2012.
2014-01-20	Suit [B] was stayed by Lee Seiu Kin J pending the resolution of these appeals.
2014-04-23	The parties’ cross-appeals against DJ Wong’s decision were dismissed by Tay Yong Kwang J.
2015-03-01	The Husband had paid a total of $533,500 in interim maintenance for the Wife and Q.
2015-03-01	Hearing before the Judge in March 2015.
2015-05-07	Judge came to her decision.
2015-09-03	The Husband and BSPL commenced District Court Suit No [G] of 2015.
2016-03-14	Date of first hearing.
2016-05-26	Judgment reserved.

7. Legal Issues

Division of Matrimonial Assets
- Outcome: The court adjusted the valuation of certain assets and revised the division of assets to 65:35 in favor of the husband.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Valuation of company shares
  - Inclusion of property in matrimonial assets
  - Proportion of division
Maintenance of Wife
- Outcome: The court denied the wife's claim for maintenance.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Nominal maintenance
  - Contingent maintenance
  - Financial preservation
Duty of Non-Parent to Child of Marriage
- Outcome: The court ordered a partial refund of interim maintenance paid for Q to the husband.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Acceptance of child as member of family
  - Failure of parents to maintain child
  - Cessation of duty to maintain
Admissibility of Fresh Evidence on Appeal
- Outcome: The court allowed the wife's application to adduce fresh evidence in respect of the documents comprised in the second category.
- Category: Procedural

8. Remedies Sought

Upward revision of proportion of matrimonial assets
Award of nominal maintenance
Refund of interim maintenance paid to Q

9. Cause of Actions

No cause of actions

10. Practice Areas

Divorce
Family Law
Matrimonial Proceedings

11. Industries

No industries specified

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
ATE v ATD and another appeal	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2016] SGCA 2	Singapore	Cited for the principles of nominal maintenance.
TDS v TDT	High Court	Yes	[2015] SGHCF 7	Singapore	The High Court decision under appeal regarding the division of matrimonial assets and maintenance.
Ladd v Marshall	English Court of Appeal	Yes	[1954] 1 WLR 1489	England and Wales	Cited for the principles regarding the admission of fresh evidence on appeal.
Yeo Chong Lin v Tay Ang Choo Nancy and another appeal	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2011] 2 SLR 1157	Singapore	Cited for the test of whether further evidence would have a perceptible impact on the decision such that it is in the interest of justice that it should be admitted.
Wan Lai Cheng v Quek Seow Kee and another appeal and another matter	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2012] 4 SLR 405	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the court retains the discretion to depart from the date of the ancillary matters hearing in determining the value of properties subject to division where this is warranted by the facts.
ARX v ARY and another appeal	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2016] 2 SLR 686	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the court retains the discretion to depart from the date of the ancillary matters hearing in determining the value of properties subject to division where this is warranted by the facts.
Koh Bee Choo v Choo Chai Huah	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2007] SGCA 21	Singapore	Cited for the principle that it would not be sufficient for the Wife to merely repeat her assertion made in the court below that she is entitled to a larger share of the matrimonial assets.
ANJ v ANK	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2015] 4 SLR 1043	Singapore	Cited to show that the structured approach set out in ANJ v ANK has not been applied by the Judge or the parties in the present case.
NK v NL	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2007] 3 SLR(R) 743	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the division of matrimonial assets is not a mechanistic accounting procedure reflected in the form of an arid and bloodless balance sheet.
Foo Ah Yan v Chiam Heng Chow	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2012] 2 SLR 506	Singapore	Cited for the overarching principle embodied in s 114(2) is that of financial preservation, which requires the wife to be maintained at a standard that is, to a reasonable extent, commensurate with the standard of living she had enjoyed during the marriage.
AXM v AXO	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2014] 2 SLR 705	Singapore	Cited for the principle that s 127 is essentially a procedural provision which brings into operation the provisions of Pts VIII and IX of the Act.
EB v EC (divorce: maintenance of stepchildren)	High Court	Yes	[2006] 2 SLR(R) 475	Singapore	Cited for the principle that s 127 stipulates the power of the court, but the exercise of the power in s 127 had to be premised on a duty to maintain.
B v B and F	English High Court	Yes	[1968] 3 WLR 1217	England and Wales	Cited for the narrow interpretation of the meaning of “accepted”.
P v P	English High Court	Yes	[1969] 1 WLR 898	England and Wales	Cited for the narrow interpretation of the meaning of “accepted”.
M v M (child of the family)	English Court of Appeal	Yes	[1980] 2 FLR 39	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that the test was to be applied broadly.
D v D (child of the family)	English Court of Appeal	Yes	[1981] 2 FLR 93	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that the test to be applied was an objective one.
Bowlas v Bowlas	English Court of Appeal	Yes	[1965] 3 WLR 593	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that this is ultimately a question of fact, taking into account all the relevant circumstances and context before the court itself.
R v R	English High Court	Yes	[1968] P 414	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that this is ultimately a question of fact, taking into account all the relevant circumstances and context before the court itself.
Snow v Snow	English Court of Appeal	Yes	[1971] 3 WLR 230	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that the inquiry ought also, in our view, to be an objective one inasmuch as it is premised on a consideration of all the objective evidence before the court.
Kirkwood v Kirkwood	English High Court	Yes	[1970] 1 WLR 1042	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that someone who marries a parent will readily be found to have voluntarily assumed responsibility to provide reasonable maintenance to her spouse’s child.
In re L (an infant)	English Court of Appeal	Yes	[1967] 3 WLR 1645	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that a non-parent may only be found to accept a child as a member of his or her family on the basis of a full understanding of the facts.
AAE v AAF	Singapore High Court	Yes	[2009] 3 SLR(R) 827	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the court declined to require the non-parent to pay maintenance for the child where there was no evidence that the wife (the child’s mother) would not be able to financially maintain the child.
AJE v AJF	Singapore High Court	Yes	[2011] 3 SLR 1177	Singapore	Cited for the principle that failure to maintain did not require a total failure, but a failure to adequately maintain the children.
AJR v AJS	Singapore High Court	Yes	[2010] 4 SLR 617	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the interim judgment puts an end to the marriage contract and indicates that the parties no longer intend to participate in the joint accumulation of matrimonial assets.
Sivakolunthu Kumarasamy v Shanmugam Nagaiah	Singapore High Court	Yes	[1987] SLR(R) 702	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the grant of interim judgment is a recognition by the court that there is no longer any matrimonial home, no consortium vitae and no right on either side to conjugal rights.
Fender v St John-Mildmay	England and Wales High Court	Yes	[1936] 1 KB 111	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that the interim judgment put an end to the whole content of the marriage contract, leaving only the shell, that is, the technical bond.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Women’s Charter (Cap 353, 2009 Rev Ed)	Singapore
s 70 of the Women’s Charter	Singapore
s 112 of the Women’s Charter	Singapore
s 127 of the Women’s Charter	Singapore
s 92 of the Women’s Charter	Singapore
s 68 of the Women’s Charter	Singapore
s 69 of the Women’s Charter	Singapore
s 114 of the Women’s Charter	Singapore
Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap 322, 2007 Rev Ed)	Singapore
s 37(2) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act	Singapore
Adoption of Children Act (Cap 4, 2012 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Matrimonial assets
Interim maintenance
Division of assets
Non-parent's duty
Acceptance of child
Financial preservation
Nominal maintenance
Admiralty Street property
Major Assets

15.2 Keywords

divorce
matrimonial assets
maintenance
child
family law
Singapore

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Family Law	95
Maintenance	90
Matrimonial Assets	90
Divorce	60

16. Subjects

Family Law
Divorce
Matrimonial Assets
Child Maintenance