WTL v WTM: Division of Matrimonial Assets, Child & Spousal Maintenance, Care & Control
In the Family Justice Courts of the Republic of Singapore, WTL (Husband) appealed against the District Judge's decision regarding care and control of the children and division of matrimonial assets, and maintenance for the children. WTM (Wife) also appealed against the District Judge's decision regarding the division of matrimonial assets and spousal maintenance. The High Court, with Teh Hwee Hwee J presiding, allowed the appeal in part, adjusting the division of matrimonial assets and ordering the husband to refund excess payments for property tax, condominium sinking fund, and management fees. The court dismissed the appeals against the orders pertaining to child maintenance and spousal maintenance.
1. Case Overview
1.1 Court
General Division of the High Court (Family Division)1.2 Outcome
Appeal allowed in part. The court adjusted the division of matrimonial assets and ordered the husband to refund excess payments for property tax, condominium sinking fund, and management fees.
1.3 Case Type
Family
1.4 Judgment Type
Grounds of Decision
1.5 Jurisdiction
Singapore
1.6 Description
Appeal concerning division of matrimonial assets, child maintenance, spousal maintenance, and care and control of children after divorce.
1.7 Decision Date
2. Parties and Outcomes
3. Judges
| Judge Name | Title | Delivered Judgment |
|---|---|---|
| Teh Hwee Hwee | Judge of the High Court | Yes |
4. Counsels
4. Facts
- The parties were married on 22 February 2003 and have two sons.
- The Wife left her full-time employment in January 2015 to care for the family and started a home baking business in October 2022.
- An uncontested interim judgment was granted on 22 March 2022, dissolving the marriage.
- Both parties appealed against the District Judge’s decision on the division of matrimonial assets and maintenance for the Children.
- The Husband also appealed against the District Judge’s orders on care and control, and the Wife appealed against the District Judge’s orders on spousal maintenance.
- The Husband was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery.
- The matrimonial property underwent renovations costing $88,000.
5. Formal Citations
- WTL v WTM and another appeal, , [2024] SGHCF 40
6. Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Parties were married | |
| Wife left full-time employment | |
| Purchase of matrimonial property completed | |
| Renovations of matrimonial property began | |
| Renovations of matrimonial property completed | |
| Wife started working again as a part-time baker | |
| Interim judgment granted, dissolving the marriage | |
| Wife started running a home baking business | |
| Ancillary matters were heard by the District Judge | |
| Judgment was delivered by the District Judge | |
| Husband and Wife filed their respective appeals | |
| Husband filed an application to adduce new evidence | |
| Application to adduce new evidence was heard | |
| Leave granted to Husband to adduce fresh evidence | |
| Wife filed Defendant’s Reply Affidavit | |
| Hearing of DCA 1 and DCA 2 | |
| Judgment reserved | |
| Judgment issued |
7. Legal Issues
- Care and Control of Children
- Outcome: The court upheld the District Judge's decision to grant care and control of the children to the Wife.
- Category: Substantive
- Division of Matrimonial Assets
- Outcome: The court adjusted the division of matrimonial assets, including the treatment of renovation expenses and the adverse inference drawn against the Husband.
- Category: Substantive
- Child Maintenance
- Outcome: The court dismissed the appeals against the District Judge's order pertaining to child maintenance.
- Category: Substantive
- Spousal Maintenance
- Outcome: The court dismissed the appeal against the District Judge's order pertaining to spousal maintenance.
- Category: Substantive
- Adducing Fresh Evidence
- Outcome: The court granted leave to the Husband to adduce fresh evidence pertaining to his health and hospitalisation stays, changes in C2’s expenses, and the Wife’s employment status.
- Category: Procedural
- Adverse Inference for Non-Disclosure
- Outcome: The court found that an adverse inference was rightly drawn against the Husband and replaced the notional sum that the DJ added to the matrimonial pool with an uplift of 7.5% to the Wife’s share of the matrimonial assets.
- Category: Procedural
8. Remedies Sought
- Care and Control of Children
- Division of Matrimonial Assets
- Child Maintenance
- Spousal Maintenance
9. Cause of Actions
- Divorce
- Division of Matrimonial Assets
- Child Custody
- Maintenance
10. Practice Areas
- Divorce
- Family Law
- Child Custody
- Asset Division
- Maintenance
11. Industries
- No industries specified
12. Cited Cases
| Case Name | Court | Affirmed | Citation | Jurisdiction | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ladd v Marshall | N/A | Yes | [1954] 1 WLR 1489 | N/A | Cited for the test to adduce new evidence. |
| Anan Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd v VTB Bank (Public Joint Stock Co) | Court of Appeal | Yes | [2019] 2 SLR 341 | Singapore | Cited for the two-step inquiry for adducing fresh evidence relating to matters that occurred before the date of the decision from which the appeal is brought. |
| TSF v TSE | N/A | Yes | [2018] 2 SLR 833 | Singapore | Cited for the test for adducing fresh evidence relating to matters that occurred after the date of the decision from which the appeal is brought. |
| BNX v BOE and another appeal | N/A | Yes | [2018] 2 SLR 215 | Singapore | Cited for elaborating on the test in TSF v TSE for adducing fresh evidence. |
| CX v CY (minor: custody and access) | N/A | Yes | [2005] 3 SLR(R) 690 | Singapore | Cited for the definition of a care and control order. |
| BNS v BNT | Court of Appeal | Yes | [2015] 3 SLR 973 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that the welfare of the child ought to override any other consideration. |
| ABW v ABV | N/A | Yes | [2014] 2 SLR 769 | Singapore | Cited for the broad interpretation of 'welfare' and the importance of continuity of arrangements for a child's emotional well-being. |
| VDX v VDY and another appeal | N/A | Yes | [2021] SGHCF 2 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that an appellate court will not reverse or vary a decision made by the judge below unless it can be demonstrated that the judge has committed an error of principle. |
| BG v BF | N/A | Yes | [2007] 3 SLR(R) 233 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that an appellate court will usually be slow to intervene in decisions involving the welfare of children. |
| ANJ v ANK | N/A | Yes | [2015] 4 SLR 1043 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that an appellate court will not reverse or vary a decision made by the judge below unless it can be demonstrated that the judge has failed to appreciate certain material facts. |
| TNL v TNK and another appeal and another matter | N/A | Yes | [2017] 1 SLR 609 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that an appellate court will not reverse or vary a decision made by the judge below unless it can be demonstrated that the judge has failed to appreciate certain material facts. |
| TZQ v TZR | N/A | Yes | [2019] SGHCF 3 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that contributions to renovations can be attributed as a party’s direct contributions if it can be shown that the renovations had improved the matrimonial property. |
| WFE v WFF | N/A | Yes | [2023] 1 SLR 1524 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that renovations made around the time of the acquisition of the property to make the property suitable to live in may also be taken into account in ascertaining direct contributions to the property. |
| UYQ v UYP | N/A | Yes | [2020] 1 SLR 551 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that the court is not engaging in a rigid, mechanistic and overly-arithmetical calculation exercise in ascertaining a ratio in respect of the indirect contributions of the parties. |
| UTQ v UTR | N/A | Yes | [2019] SGHCF 13 | Singapore | Wife refers to this case to support her submission that the DJ had failed to consider that for a dual-income marriage where one spouse became a homemaker for an extended period of time but not the entire duration of the marriage, that spouse should be given a higher indirect contribution ratio than if that spouse had worked for the whole duration of the marriage. |
| UNE v UNF | N/A | Yes | [2018] SGHCF 12 | Singapore | Wife refers to this case to support her submission that the DJ had failed to consider that for a dual-income marriage where one spouse became a homemaker for an extended period of time but not the entire duration of the marriage, that spouse should be given a higher indirect contribution ratio than if that spouse had worked for the whole duration of the marriage. |
| Chan Tin Sun v Fong Quay Sim | N/A | Yes | [2015] 2 SLR 195 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that an appellate court will not interfere in the division orders made by the lower court unless it can be shown that the DJ had erred in law or had clearly exercised his discretion wrongly or had taken into account irrelevant considerations or had failed to take into account relevant considerations. |
| WRX v WRY and another matter | N/A | Yes | [2024] 1 SLR 851 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that an adverse inference should only be drawn where there is a substratum of evidence that establishes a prima facie case against the person whom the inference is to be drawn and that person had some particular access to the information he is said to be hiding. |
| UZN v UZM | N/A | Yes | [2021] 1 SLR 426 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that an adverse inference should only be drawn where there is a substratum of evidence that establishes a prima facie case against the person whom the inference is to be drawn and that person had some particular access to the information he is said to be hiding. |
| BPC v BPB and another appeal | N/A | Yes | [2019] 1 SLR 608 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that an adverse inference should only be drawn where there is a substratum of evidence that establishes a prima facie case against the person whom the inference is to be drawn and that person had some particular access to the information he is said to be hiding. |
| BOR v BOS and another appeal | Court of Appeal | Yes | [2018] SGCA 78 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that there must be some evidence suggesting that the person has sought to conceal or deplete assets which should be included in the matrimonial pool. |
| TIC v TID | Court of Appeal | Yes | [2019] 1 SLR 180 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that between the date of the court order and the date of completion, in a situation where one party to a divorce has been given the option of buying over the other party’s share of the matrimonial property, in relation to property tax or payments which do not affect the net equity of the property, the prima facie position is that the notional owner of the property as at the date of the court order should bear such payments, where the notional owner depends on the terms of the order. |
| AMW v AMZ | N/A | Yes | [2011] 3 SLR 955 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that the court has a discretion to order maintenance to commence from whichever date the court considers fair. |
| UHA v UHB and another appeal | N/A | Yes | [2020] 3 SLR 666 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that while both parents are equally responsible for providing for their children, it does not necessarily follow that every component of this duty must be equally borne mathematically. |
| WBU v WBT | N/A | Yes | [2023] SGHCF 3 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that financial capability need not be rigidly ascertained by sole reference to income alone, and consistent with s 69(4)(b) of the Women’s Charter, the court should consider the parties’ “income, earning capacity (if any), property and other financial resources”, as well as significant liabilities and financial commitments, and the assets received by the parties after the division of their matrimonial assets. |
| Foo Ah Yan v Chiam Heng Chow | N/A | Yes | [2012] 2 SLR 506 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that financial preservation requires the wife to be maintained at a standard which is, to a reasonable extent, commensurate with the standard of living she had enjoyed during the marriage. |
| ATE v ATD and another appeal | Court of Appeal | Yes | [2016] SGCA 2 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that financial preservation requires the wife to be maintained at a standard which is, to a reasonable extent, commensurate with the standard of living she had enjoyed during the marriage. |
| TDT v TDS and another appeal and another matter | N/A | Yes | [2016] 4 SLR 145 | Singapore | Cited for the principle that financial preservation requires the wife to be maintained at a standard which is, to a reasonable extent, commensurate with the standard of living she had enjoyed during the marriage. |
13. Applicable Rules
| Rule Name |
|---|
| No applicable rules |
14. Applicable Statutes
| Statute Name | Jurisdiction |
|---|---|
| Women’s Charter 1961 (2020 Rev Ed) | Singapore |
15. Key Terms and Keywords
15.1 Key Terms
- Matrimonial Assets
- Care and Control
- Child Maintenance
- Spousal Maintenance
- Direct Contributions
- Indirect Contributions
- Adverse Inference
- Earning Capacity
- Homemaker
- Welfare of the Child
15.2 Keywords
- Divorce
- Family Law
- Matrimonial Assets
- Child Custody
- Maintenance
- Singapore
17. Areas of Law
| Area Name | Relevance Score |
|---|---|
| Family Law | 95 |
| Maintenance (Child) | 90 |
| Care and Control | 90 |
| Division of Matrimonial Assets | 85 |
| Maintenance | 80 |
| Maintenance (Wife) | 80 |
| Custody of Children | 70 |
| Child Custody | 70 |
16. Subjects
- Family Law
- Divorce
- Matrimonial Assets
- Child Custody
- Maintenance