VOU v VOT: Appeal for Wife Maintenance After Short Marriage

In VOU v VOT, the High Court (Family Division) heard an appeal by the wife, VOU, against the District Judge's decision to deny her maintenance from her husband, VOT, following a short six-month marriage. The court, presided over by Choo Han Teck J, dismissed the appeal, citing the wife's financial independence and the brief duration of the marriage. The husband had filed for divorce, and the ancillary hearing focused solely on the wife's maintenance claim.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

General Division of the High Court (Family Division)

1.2 Outcome

Appeal dismissed

1.3 Case Type

Family

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal regarding wife's maintenance after a brief marriage. The court dismissed the appeal, citing the wife's financial independence and short marriage duration.

1.7 Decision Date

2 May 2021

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
VOU	Appellant	Individual	Appeal dismissed	Lost
VOT	Respondent	Individual	No order as to maintenance for the wife	Won	Looi Min Yi Stephanie of Optimus Chambers LLC Oei Su-Ying Renee of Optimus Chambers LLC

3. Judges

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

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Looi Min Yi Stephanie	Optimus Chambers LLC
Oei Su-Ying Renee	Optimus Chambers LLC

4. Facts

The parties were married on 25 December 2016 and lived together for six months.
The husband is 78 years old, and the wife is 59 years old.
The wife sold her kueh business in July 2017.
The husband gave the wife $5,000 per month from March 2014 to June 2017.
The husband withdrew $50,000 from the Joint Account before leaving the wife.
The wife withdrew $25,000 from the Joint Account after the husband's departure.

5. Formal Citations

VOU v VOT, District Court Appeal No 108 of 2020, [2021] SGHCF 6

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2016-12-25	Parties married
2017-03-01	Husband opened a joint bank account with the wife
2017-06-14	Husband left the wife
2017-06-20	Wife withdrew $25,000 from the Joint Account
2017-07-01	Wife sold her kueh business
2020-01-06	Writ of Divorce filed by the husband
2020-05-26	Interim Judgment granted
2020-09-22	Ancillary hearing held
2020-11-11	Wife filed a Notice of Appeal
2021-02-04	DJ released her Grounds of Decision
2021-04-23	Judgment reserved
2021-05-03	Judgment

7. Legal Issues

Wife's entitlement to maintenance after a short marriage
- Outcome: The court held that the wife was not entitled to maintenance due to her financial independence and the short duration of the marriage.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Lump sum maintenance of $420,000
Alternative lump sum maintenance of $180,000

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
UJF v UJG	Unknown	Yes	[2019] 3 SLR 178	Singapore	Cited to support the principle that pre-marriage cohabitation cannot be considered in ancillary matters.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Women’s Charter (Cap 353, 2009 Rev Ed)	Singapore
Section 113 of the Women’s Charter	Singapore
Section 114 of the Women’s Charter	Singapore
Section 114(2) of the Women’s Charter	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Maintenance
Short marriage
Financial independence
Pre-marriage lifestyle
Lump sum maintenance

15.2 Keywords

family law
divorce
maintenance
appeal
short marriage

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Maintenance (Wife)	95
Family Law	90
Divorce	50

16. Subjects

Family Law
Divorce
Maintenance