A recently concluded divorce case gave me a good boost in confidence. The outcome of the Ancillary Matters (“AM”) Hearing was exactly as the position I had advised my client to take. My advice was grounded in principle and reasonableness. Unfortunately, the same was not true for the other side, who rejected our reasonable Offer to Settle (“OTS”) to their own detriment.
2. In this case, I represented the Husband / Father (“H”) in divorce proceedings with his ex-wife (“W”). H was a foreigner but had grown up studying in Singapore whereas W was a Singapore citizen. They had a child, who thankfully was not the centre of any dispute. In fact, parties settled all the AMs at CFRC (i.e. Child Focused Resolution Centre) Mediation, except for the Division of the Matrimonial Flat.
3. The dispute revolved solely around the parties’ HDB Flat. Under relevant Regulations, the flat was under W’s sole name, but the bulk (i.e. almost all) of the finances, with the exception of about S$2,000.00 and the CPF Housing Grant, came from H. Particularly, H’s father helped H with a lump sum for the purchase of the flat.
4. Long-story short, using simple calculations based on established legal principles, W’s share in the flat was calculated to be about x% At CFRC Mediation, in an effort to come to an amicable resolution, and on my advice, we offered x+5% to W. Much to our shock, W rejected our proposal, insisted on x+35%, and refused to come for a 2nd Mediation. Thus, we had no choice but to contest this issue. A cost-benefit analysis was done, and it was calculated that the benefit (i.e. realistic value of awarded share) far outweighed the cost (i.e. my professional fees) to my client.
5. Being pro-active, after the 1st Affidavit of Assets and Means (“AOM”) was filed and we (H and I) reviewed the parties’ relevant positions, on my advice, we made an OTS to settle the matter for x% In very basic terms, under the relevant Rules, if W eventually did not get a result that was better than my OTS, then we could ask for higher costs. The rationale is easy to understand – i.e. to encourage parties to take a reasonable position and settle as early as possible, to avoid unnecessary litigation.
Read more : Role of family divorce lawyers in singapore
