Court Grants Woman’s Request To Sell Family Flat & Claim Maintenance From Ex-Husband
After a man repeatedly failed to fulfil orders to make maintenance payments to his ex-wife, the court granted the latter’s request to sell their matrimonial home and claim S$175,000 from the proceeds.
Another S$370,500 will go to her for the maintenance of the couple’s two daughters, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Although he did not attend the court session, the man has filed an appeal against the judge’s decision.
Man repeatedly failed to pay maintenance
Back in 2019, the man flouted a court order to make maintenance payments to his ex-wife.
According to CNA, besides a one-time enforced payment of S$50, he had not paid his former partner.
He was reportedly imprisoned on several occasions for repeatedly failing to pay maintenance.
Additionally, the man failed to attend the court hearing despite being ordered to. He also hasn’t seen his daughters in some time.
Judge allows ex-wife to sell flat & claim maintenance
On Wednesday (7 Dec), District Judge Jason Gabriel Chiang said in his judgement that the ex-husband had been “very unfair” to his ex-wife and two children.
He failed to fulfil his parental responsibilities to the children.
Because of this, his ex-wife went through “exceptional hardship to single-handedly support them”, especially in the last five years.
Although the man received notice of court proceedings via multiple avenues, he chose to “ostrich” — being unwilling to acknowledge the issue, thinking he can avoid it.
The judge then granted the man’s ex-wife sole conduct of the sale of the matrimonial home, reported CNA.
This way, her share of the matrimonial assets of S$175,000 can be taken from the sale proceeds, with interests accrued.
The judge also made further orders to facilitate the sale as well as allow money to be transferred from the man’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) to his wife’s CPF, should the sale proceeds be insufficient.
Ex-wife to claim S$370,500 for child maintenance fees
The couple wedded back in 2010 and have two daughters, now aged 11 and 10.
They both held bachelor’s degrees but the man was unemployed while his ex-wife did not earn much in her job.
In 2015, she filed for divorce and was granted an interim judgement the next year.
After repeated failures to pay her maintenance, the man was sentenced to six jail terms of one day each, and four terms of jail for two days each.
Despite that, CNA reported that he still did not make payment.
After 24 summon applications were filed in divorce proceedings, the final judgement of divorce was granted in Jan 2018
The man was then ordered to pay his ex-wife S$175,000 by Aug 2019 following his ex-wife’s application for a variation in orders.
Failing to do so, he would have to sell his matrimonial home and use the proceeds to pay his ex-wife.
If the sale proceeds were insufficient, he was to transfer the balance from his CPF accounts to that of his ex-wife.
When he failed to do any of the above, the ex-wife filed another variation of the court orders.
Included in it were the following:
- Sole custody of their two daughters
- Matrimonial home to be sold with her having sole conduct of the sale
- Payment of S$175,000 to be made with interest accrued
She shared that the man’s conduct had caused her and their daughters many years of anguish and suffering. She even had to borrow from friends and neighbours to “meet her daughters’ needs”.
Should the man fail to sign the relevant documents in time, the judge granted the ex-wife court assistance to sign off on documents pertaining to the sale of the home.
The judge stated that the man was to pay a lump sum child maintenance fee of S$370,500. This comes to about S$1,500 per month per daughter till they both turn 21.
The ex-husband did not show up at court – both physically and virtually – but has filed an appeal against the judge’s decision.
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