SINGAPORE: A man who was bequeathed S$1 (US$0.78) in his mother’s will took to court to have the will declared void and invalid, but lost in the case against his aunt and has to pay her costs of almost S$75,000.
According to a judgment made available on Thursday (Mar 12), the plaintiff is the youngest of the deceased woman’s three sons, who were “causes of distress and concern” for her.
The deceased had three wills in 2020, 2019 and 2018, all of which bequeathed S$1 to each of her three sons but with differences in the other particulars.
In her 2020 will, she gave her Housing Board flat at Klang Lane to her second son, money in her bank accounts and some Singtel shares to her sister, and everything left over to the same sister.
The deceased’s sister was appointed sole executrix and trustee of this will.
The youngest son asked for the 2020 will to be declared void and invalid, and for probate to be granted to the executors appointed in a 2019 will – his wife and a long-time family lawyer.
The 2019 will ordered that a flat be held on trust for his daughter P until she turned 30, and bequeathed on her the deceased’s cash, monies in her bank accounts and Central Provident Fund, among other items.
THE WOMAN AND HER SONS
The judgment stated that the late matriarch was a “capable, independent woman of strong character”. Her first marriage ended in 1980 after she commenced divorce proceedings against her husband, who had abandoned the family.
She became a single mother of three sons, supporting them by working as a car park attendant. She remarried in 1992 and helped her second husband start his own scaffolding business.
In 2004, the woman started her own maid employment agency, specialising in bringing domestic helpers from India into Singapore, and operated this business until she died in September 2021. She was a successful businesswoman well-known in Little India for her employment agency, the judge noted.
The woman’s three sons “were at one point or another, causes of distress and concern” for her, said District Judge Cassandra Cheong.
The first son had taken over his late father’s business but incurred debts and needed his mother’s financial help. He allegedly forged his mother’s signature and sold off two of her properties to pay off his debts.
The business was closed in 2015 or 2016, and the oldest son was declared bankrupt.
The second son has a history of drug-related offences and has been to jail, although he turned over a new leaf and later completed his studies and worked as a driver.
The plaintiff, the youngest son, is “arguably the son who gave the deceased the greatest cause for concern”, said Judge Cheong.
He was placed in a boys’ home at the age of 12 for causing grievous hurt to a prefect in his class, running away from the home three years later and being sent to a reformative training centre.
