Find Out About Inheritance in Divorce Singapore

What happens to inheritance in divorce Singapore?

Recently in the UK, a divorcee found out that she might lose her home which was bought with inheritance she received from her dead mother.

Doreen Crowther’s mother’s dying wish was for Crowther’s husband, Robert Crowther, to receive nothing from it. Robert is on benefits.

Doreen and Robert got married in 1997 and separated in 2007. They bought a 4-bedder house in 2002 with inheritance received from Doreen’s mother.

After the couple divorced, Doreen insisted that Robert was not entitled to anything from the home as she considered it to be her “mother’s house”. Robert moved out to live with his parents in a single room and has been there for the last 7 years. Robert wants the house to be sold and have the proceeds split so that he could buy his own apartment.

At a divorce court in Oxford in 2015, Judge Robin Tolson QC decided that Doreen should keep the house as:

Making her sell the house and move may be too much for her as she has mental health issues; and
He was not sure if Robert would be able to live independently.

The Court of Appeal feels that Robert was not given warning that his ability to live alone would be questioned and he had no time to prepare evidence to show this. The Court of Appeal sent the case back to a family judge to decide what Robert is entitled to.

See: Rachel Burford, “Divorcee, 46, is dragged screaming from court after being told she might lose her 200,000 pounds home to her disabled ex-husband, 40, almost ten years after they split”, Mailonline, 10 February 2017

Inheritance in divorce Singapore

Under the Women’s Charter (Singapore), the matrimonial home is a matrimonial asset while the following are not matrimonial assets: