{"id":60433,"date":"2022-10-13T15:10:09","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T07:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.99.co\/singapore\/insider\/?p=60433"},"modified":"2022-10-14T17:35:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T09:35:48","slug":"appeal-china-property-sole-matrimonial-assets-rejected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.99.co\/singapore\/insider\/appeal-china-property-sole-matrimonial-assets-rejected\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman\u2019s appeal to exclude China property in her name from matrimonial assets was rejected"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Divorce is one of the most stressful things one has to deal with. Even more so when the custody of children and division of assets are contested. After all, neither party wants to be on the losing end.<\/p>\r\n

As a property portal<\/a>, we occasionally feature divorce cases that involve the division of matrimonial assets<\/a> to explain what would be included in the pool (at least in the eyes of the law in Singapore).<\/p>\r\n

A recent court appeal has highlighted that in a matrimonial asset division, even if you have an overseas property acquired before marriage under your sole name, your ex-spouse may get a share of it.<\/p>\r\n

Property in China registered solely under the woman\u2019s name<\/h2>\r\n

This was reflected in a case involving a Singaporean man who is a senior engineer, and a Chinese national and Singapore PR woman, who has been a homemaker since 2004. They married in September 2004 and have two kids.<\/p>\r\n

A district judge previously ordered that the matrimonial assets valued at $796,427.41 be divided equally between the man and the woman. This matrimonial pool included a property in Guangzhou, China, which was registered solely under the woman\u2019s name.<\/p>\r\n

(There were a few other things related to the case, but since we\u2019re a property portal, we\u2019re just going to focus on the property in question.)<\/p>\r\n

However, the woman appealed the district judge\u2019s decision, asking for this property to be excluded from the matrimonial pool. \"Singapore<\/a> The high court judge eventually dismissed the appeal.<\/p>\r\n

Before we explain why the appeal was dismissed, let\u2019s go through the definition of a matrimonial asset in Singapore.<\/p>\r\n

What\u2019s considered a matrimonial asset?<\/h2>\r\n

Under section 112(10) of the Women\u2019s Charter 1961<\/a>, a matrimonial asset refers to<\/p>\r\n

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  1. any asset acquired before the marriage by one party or both parties to the marriage\r\n