Straits Times article entitled Strong family hand in patients' last days published on 5 September 2011 provides us with various issues faced by persons in their last days. According to a study “What Doctors Say about Care of the Dying,” it was found that family members tend to play a significant role in the patients’ last days even to the extent of denying the dying the right to settle their … [Read more...]
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Husband died leaving spouse with no home, no money ; DIY video Will invalid
There is an article on 30 April 2011 Straits Times page D2 entitled “In sickness & in death” on the predicament suffered by foreign brides when their Singaporean husbands died. In that story was a Chinese national by name of Madam Xiao Huxian whose Singaporean husband died of lung cancer. He left behind Madam Xiao, Jiabao who is their only Down Syndrome son and his 25-years old daughter from … [Read more...]
Ex-Kim Eng Dealer to pay up $1.3m
In the article, Court rules dealer liable to indemnify Kim Eng , the High Court ruled that the former dealer of Kim Eng, Karen Goh deem her liable to indemnify the brokerage for any and all losses incurred by her clients. Thus, she has to pay up $1.3m to brokerage firm in addition to the $1m she already paid in February 2009. This is a reminder of the importance of asset protection especially … [Read more...]
An example of person refusing to pay fee for advice
Recently I had a referral in which the client refused to pay for advice with regard to estate planning. Naturally I wouldn’t do any work if the client refuses to pay. However, the client insisted that the Will is going to be very straightforward. My gut feel is always that whenever client says the case is simple, I know this is trouble. Anyway to cut the long story short, I decided to recommend … [Read more...]
DIY estate planning became a big mess, ends up in High Court (Koh Cheong Heng v Ho Yee Fong 2011)
Mr. Koh Cheong Heng did a DIY estate plan by transferring his sole ownership of a HDB to one of joint-tenant with his wife on 8 August 2006. Then, he thought that he was going to die and was concerned that his wife will have no place to stay. But later on, his health drastically improved but his wife’s health unexpectedly became much worst than his. In the meantime, he had second thoughts about … [Read more...]
Will writing – the young and not the old writes their Wills, says statistics
In Singapore, there is no statistics on how many people has written their Wills and neither do we know the demographics of people who had their Wills written. But in Malaysia there is some statistics although still limiting. There is a Will writing company in Malaysia company that has written more than 100,000 Wills for Malaysians. Due to the large “market share” in this industry, their … [Read more...]
Professionalism Goes Beyond Form Filling
The public's perception on a person who is a professional is often not in line with the actual work which a professional does. In reality, many professionals are mere "form fillings". To the extend, this has resulted in disappointments and even lawsuits. What is meant by "form fillings" and how widespread this practice is? In this INVEST October 2010 issue, Wilfred Ling writes about this topic … [Read more...]
CPF Nomination made to a bankrupt
Central Provident Fund (CPF) monies bequeathed to a bankrupt by a deceased member stands to be seized by the Official Assignee (OA) and distributed to creditors. Ironically, it takes a couple of miscommunication between two government departments to clarify this. See HERE (link broken). The details can be found Re Lim Lye Hiang, ex parte the Official Assignee [2010] SGHC 299 It is … [Read more...]
Dementia patient’s S$48,000 fixed deposit gone
I just saw the news about a dementia patient whose fixed deposit worth $48,000 was “gone.” ("Woman's bank account closed without her knowledge ", Straits Times, 6th September 2010) . Well, it was not really gone but the account was supposedly to be held in a POSB joint account with her daughter but the bank permitted the dementia patient to close the account and open as a new joint account with … [Read more...]
Professionalism goes beyond instruction taking (Wills) Part 2
In a recent high court case of Soh Eng Beng (as executor and trustee of the Estate of Soh Kim Poo, deceased) v Soh Eng Koon was a case with regard to an ambiguous clause in a Will. The judge has to decide the exact meaning of the clause. But as I read the case, my opinion is that it could simply be a genuine human error which all humans are not immune. Anyway I will not dwell on the human error … [Read more...]
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