VPU v VPT: Appeal Against Wife Maintenance Order in Divorce Proceedings

In VPU v VPT, the appellant husband appealed against the District Judge's decision ordering him to pay $400.00 monthly maintenance to the respondent wife. The High Court, presided over by Choo Han Teck J, heard the appeal on 19 May 2021 and delivered its judgment on 1 June 2021, allowing the appeal and ordering that there shall be no maintenance for the wife. The court found that the wife is self-sufficient and does not require maintenance.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

General Division of the High Court (Family Division)

1.2 Outcome

Appeal Allowed

1.3 Case Type

Family

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal against a District Judge's order for husband to pay wife monthly maintenance. The High Court allowed the appeal, finding the wife self-sufficient.

1.7 Decision Date

31 May 2021

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
VPU	Appellant	Individual	Appeal Allowed	Won	Madeleine Poh of Yeo & Associates LLC Yeo Poh Tiang of Yeo & Associates LLC
VPT	Respondent	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Lost	Cheong Zhihui Ivan of Withers KhattarWong LLP Ho Jin Kit Shaun of Withers KhattarWong LLP

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Choo Han Teck	Judge of the High Court	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Madeleine Poh	Yeo & Associates LLC
Yeo Poh Tiang	Yeo & Associates LLC
Cheong Zhihui Ivan	Withers KhattarWong LLP
Ho Jin Kit Shaun	Withers KhattarWong LLP

4. Facts

The parties were married on 1 March 2015.
The wife is a Traditional Chinese Medicine physician with a monthly income of $3,000.00.
The husband is a Senior Engineer with a monthly net salary of $4,302.00.
The wife stopped working between August 2015 and July 2017 to care for the son.
The wife commenced divorce proceedings on 10 August 2019.
An Interim Judgment was granted on 5 March 2020.
The husband was ordered to pay $700.00 per month as maintenance for the child.

5. Formal Citations

VPU v VPT, District Court Appeal No 120 of 2020, [2021] SGHCF 11

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2015-03-01	Parties married
2015-08-01	Wife resigned from job
2016-01-01	Son born
2017-07-01	Wife resumed work
2017-12-01	Parties moved into matrimonial home
2019-05-01	Wife left matrimonial home with child
2019-08-10	Wife commenced divorce proceedings
2020-03-05	Interim Judgment granted
2020-03-01	Husband ordered to pay child maintenance
2020-11-24	District Judge ordered husband to pay wife monthly maintenance
2020-11-30	Monthly maintenance to the wife with effect from this date
2020-12-02	Final Judgment granted
2021-03-08	District Judge’s Grounds of Decision issued
2021-04-09	Appellant’s Case dated
2021-05-10	Respondent’s Case dated
2021-05-19	Hearing before the High Court
2021-06-01	Judgment reserved

7. Legal Issues

Wife Maintenance
- Outcome: The court held that the wife was self-sufficient and did not require maintenance.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Monthly Maintenance

9. Cause of Actions

No cause of actions

10. Practice Areas

Divorce
Family Law

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
Women’s Charter (Cap 353, 2007 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Wife Maintenance
Matrimonial Home
Financial Preservation
Self-Sufficiency

15.2 Keywords

Divorce
Family Law
Maintenance
Wife
Husband
Appeal
Singapore

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Family Law	95
Maintenance (Wife)	90
Maintenance (Child)	70
Matrimonial Assets	60
Divorce	50
Child Custody	40

16. Subjects

Family Law
Divorce
Maintenance