Man Successfully Sued a Dead Friend’s Family; Judge Ordered They Refund Him

Last Updated on 2023-05-05 , 1:28 pm

A man just successfully sued his friend, but there’s a catch—his friend is no longer alive.

Mr Wong Shu Kiat, upset that his friend didn’t fully refund the capital he invested, sued Mr Tin Koon Ming for the money back. On the day he served his friend the letter of demand, though, Mr Tin passed away.

Undeterred, he issued the same letter to Mr Tin’s family, and sued Mr Tin’s daughter instead.

Invested Over $500k In Business Venture

Prior to the events, Mr Wong and Mr Tin had been friends for over 15 years. 

Mr Wong was a coffee shop operator, and ran coffee shops in Serangoon and Sin Ming. The two had met in Mr Wong’s Sin Ming coffee shop, and became part of a group of mutual friends.

It’s always said that the easiest way to turn a relationship sour is to do business with your friends—this case seems to be no exception.

In 2016, Mr Tin, the sole proprietor of Millenia Motor, proposed a business venture to Mr Wong.

He suggested a venture that involved buying and selling used cars, and Mr Wong agreed. Under their joint venture agreement, Mr Wong would supply capital, and Mr Tin would provide the premises, equipment and labour. 

The profits and losses would be split amongst Mr Tin and Mr Wong by 60% and 40%, respectively. 

When the venture was terminated, it was agreed upon that Mr Wong would be refunded the capital he invested, after losses were accounted for. 

Satisfied with the deal, Mr Wong forked over a whopping $517,047.27 in three checks, issued from his coffee shop business, Wan Jin.

$336,547.27 of that amount was used to purchase a used Bentley, and the rest was transferred to Millenia Motor’s bank account. 

Did Not Refund His Capital

In 2018, however, Mr Wong terminated the joint venture, and approached Mr Tin for the previously agreed-upon capital refund. 

Allegedly, Mr Tin only refunded him $130,000 of the amount, and proposed other ways of repaying Mr Wong. He offered to include Mr Wong’s name in a durian plantation investment, but this proposal was shot down. 

In the end, Mr Wong resorted to issuing Mr Tin a letter of demand, asking him to return the remaining sum of $387,047.27. 

He served this letter on 7 July 2020, but Mr Tin passed away on that exact day. 

Mr Wong, however, was adamant about getting the money back, even if the man who owed it to him was dead. He then issued the letter to Mr Tin’s family, and filed a lawsuit against the administrator of Mr Tin’s estate, his daughter Ms Michelle Chen.

Although Ms Chen was not involved in the venture, she still refused to admit that Mr Tin’s estate owed Mr Wong money, and the matter was then brought to court. 

Judge Concluded That Mr Tin Owed Mr Wong Money

In court, Mr Wong offered two notebooks detailing transactions made during the joint venture as evidence. 

He also called two witnesses to testify for him, a couple who were mutual friends of the pair. 

The notebooks were kept separately by Mr Tin and Mr Wong, and they contained entries of every transaction made from December 2016 to March 2019, when the venture was terminated.

Mr Wong also brought name cards as evidence that the venture was real—the cards had the business’s name, Millenia Motor, and his name printed on them.

The Judicial Commissioner accepted the evidence Mr Wong tendered as proof of the joint venture’s existence, and took note of the detailed transaction history recorded in the notebooks.

She then concluded that Mr Tin owed Mr Wong $340,447.27, after deducting losses and a sum of money Mr Tin had paid him. 

She noted that Mr Tin’s notebooks contained records of 13 additional losses he had omitted to tell Mr Wong about, hoping to preserve the joint venture. 

Suing A Dead Person 

In civil cases, it’s indeed possible to sue a dead person, but it depends on whether the deceased party is the claimant or defendant, and if the cause survives death.

In cases where the claimant dies, someone must apply to take over the deceased claimant’s suit, or the case will be struck out. 

If the defendant dies, it’s possible to sue his estate instead, like what Mr Wong successfully did.

However, these lawsuits are still dependent on other factors, like whether the cause of the suit can survive death. 

For example, if you’re suing someone for slander and you die during the lawsuit, your case becomes moot because a dead person doesn’t even have a reputation that defamation can damage.

Conversely, in the context of the case above, if the claimant (Mr Wong) died instead, his estate would still be able to sue Mr Tin for the money back. Cases like those, where contractual debt is owed, do survive death.

These lawsuits also depend on what exactly you’re suing for, and what kind of compensation you’re seeking.

Take this as an example—the gardener you hired didn’t perform the work you contracted him to do, and you sue him to make him fulfil those obligations.

If he dies, you can’t sue him for that anymore, because he’s dead and can no longer work, unfortunately. However, you can sue his estate for monetary damages instead. 

Of course, these are just general guidelines, and things vary case by case. So, if you want to know if your case survives death, it’s best to speak to a lawyer for advice.