A woman in Singapore divorced her husband before they got the keys to their allocated BTO flat, and she was awarded the full share of the flat following a successful court appeal.
Channel NewsAsia reported that the couple had separated in January 2019 before their divorce was finalised in May 2021.
They had yet to receive the keys to their flat at the time, with the Family Justice Court ruling that the flat be returned to HDB and the couple getting refunds for the amounts that they paid for the unit, which means that neither the man nor the woman would be getting the flat.
The woman then appealed against the ruling and argued that the removal of the BTO flat from the matrimonial pool should be counted as a loss to the couple and that their children won’t have a home.
Her argument was rejected by the court because she was earning more than her husband – the nurse educator took home an average of $4,936 per month and had about $256,500 in her CPF as well as another $68,000 in other savings.
Her husband, on the other hand, earned about $4,708 per month and only had $345 in his bank account, with another $105,400 in his CPF.
In her second appeal against the ruling, the woman offered to pay her ex-husband $16,000 for his share in deposits and administrative fees in exchange for his relinquishing his interest in the flat, disproving the judge’s concern that she didn’t want to reimburse the husband.
The flat was also valued to be the same as its sale price at the time of the court case after accounting for the MOP (minimum occupancy period), and it was also not an asset eligible on the open market (yet), which means the woman wouldn’t profit from acquiring the home.
Additionally, her husband was also willing to surrender the unit to HDB.
The woman also cited her children’s welfare and said that they need a permanent home.
Justice Woo Bih Li said that despite the divorced couple having joint custody of their children, they are under the care and control of the woman, and giving her the flat would be in the best interest of the children.
She was ultimately given the full share of the flat.