WTS v WTR

Case Significance

WTS v WTR and another appeal [2024] SGHCF 33 was decided by Choo Han Teck J in the General Division of the High Court (Family Division), which heard the matter on 18 July and 2 August 2024 with judgment reserved and delivered on 26 September 2024. The proceedings comprised District Court Appeal No 116 of 2023, brought by the Wife (WTS), and a cross-appeal in District Court Appeal No 30 of 2024, brought by the Husband (WTR). The parties were married on 29 October 2007 in Singapore and lived together for nearly 12 years, with the Husband leaving the matrimonial home together with their child in August 2019; the Husband filed for divorce on 11 April 2022 and Interim Judgment was granted by consent on 29 June 2022. The Wife is aged 42 and the Husband 46 in the relevant year, and their child is 12 years old.

The appeals concerned the division of matrimonial assets and maintenance for the wife and the child, as identified in the catchwords, the latter touching on the Guardianship of Infants Act. The district judge below gave his decision on 7 November 2023. The judgment records that the Wife holds a bachelor's degree in Travel & Tourism Management and a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Travel & Tourism and says she was a homemaker who last worked as a customer service officer earning a gross monthly income of $1,800 (net $1,435), while the Husband, who worked as an IT Project Manager, disputed that she was a homemaker, contending she conducted baking classes and tours and worked on fixed-term contracts. The appellant was represented by counsel from Ika Law LLC and Winchester Law LLC, including Anuradha d/o Krishan Chand Sharma and Nur Amalina Binte Kamal.