WDB v WDA

Facts

The parties divorced in 2016 and had two children, aged 16 and 18. In 2022 the Husband moved to the United States with both children. In FC/SUM 380/2021 a District Judge varied the maintenance orders: he assessed the children's reasonable expenses after the move at S$4,500 and ordered the Wife, a nurse at the Singapore General Hospital, to contribute S$1,500 monthly.

In March 2021 the Wife had a severe reaction to her second COVID-19 vaccine dose. She spent 151 days in hospital and was diagnosed with Involuntary Movement Disorder. Her pay fell from S$8,244 to half-pay of S$4,122 and then to no pay, and by a letter dated 28 December 2022 the hospital terminated her employment after finding her unfit to work. Her only income was S$2,100 a month in rent from her flat. The Husband said his income was US$5,300 and that he was himself under strain, with the elder child about to start tertiary education. The Wife appealed in District Court Appeal No 17 of 2022, acting in person.

Issues

1. Whether the order that the Wife contribute S$1,500 monthly to the children's maintenance should stand given her loss of health and income.
2. Whether maintenance should be fixed by reference to the Wife's earning capacity even though she was no longer working.

Holding

Choo Han Teck J allowed the appeal and rescinded the variation orders made in FC/SUM 380/2021, so the Wife no longer had to pay the S$1,500 monthly contribution. Because her situation might improve with renewed health and income, the court gave the Husband leave to apply again.

Reasoning

Both former spouses were in financial difficulty, leaving no room for give and take, but the Wife was in the worse position: she faced the cost of oxygen therapy and her own living expenses with no prospect of returning to work.

Counsel for the Husband relied on cases where maintenance was based on an unemployed spouse's earning capacity, and noted the absence of a medical report on the Wife's future fitness to work. The court rejected this: she used a wheelchair, could barely speak a few words without becoming breathless, and depended on an oxygen tank.

The District Judge had not erred, since the Wife was then still earning S$4,122 and her recovery could not be foreseen. But the basis for his order had since gone, so the contribution could not stand.

From the judgment