A retired businessman has won the right to keep an S$20 million bungalow in Chancery Lane after the High Court made its decision on the case.
Justice Choo Han Teck ruled that See Fong Mun, 86, who paid for the property purchased in 1983 is the rightful owner, even though it was registered under his wife – Chan Yuen Lan who is now 88.
The judge declared that the wife was considered a trustee of the property but Mr See is still the legal owner – as the couple had intended for the property to belong to him at the time of acquisition.
Madam Chan signed a power of attorney three days before the property was bought in 1983, authorising her husband and eldest child Cliff as managers. But she revoked the power of attorney in 2011, pushing the husband to seek action from the High Court.
The judge concluded it was unlikely that Mr See bought the bungalow “out of sheer conscience or moral responsibility”, in response to his wife’s claim that it was a gift as the husband was “guilt-ridden” by an extra-marital affair.
“A man nearing retirement age who had just fallen in love with another woman was unlikely in the circumstances to scrape together a S$1.8 million fund from multiple sources to buy a house… as a gift to his wife,” noted Justice Choo.
The double-storey good class bungalow (GCB) sits on over 20,000 sq ft of land in an upscale neighbourhood.
Source PropGuru – 9 May 2013
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