News

6 Siblings in a Lawsuit Over an HDB Shophouse That They All Paid for Together

Charleen Teh

2022-04-27 , 10:28 am

You know how there’s a saying that there’s always one black sheep in a large family?

If you happen to be in a large family and can’t think of the black sheep, chances are, you’re probably the black sheep.

And well, the other siblings in this court case probably wish they could disown their brother after this debacle.

Investing in Property as a Retirement Plan

The lawsuit in question involves six people.

The sole defendant, a 57-year-old man, was sued by his three elder sisters, younger brother, and younger sister.

It’s not like those family dramas you watch on television where the entire family is rich and squabbling over the ownership of an abalone shop chain or a bunch of property.

This family came from humble origins, borne by a pair of pig and poultry farmers from a village in Yio Chu Kang.

As your history books will tell you, Singapore went through a phase of rapid urbanisation in the 1970s and 1980s.

Like many others, their farm was acquired by the Government for redevelopment, and they were suitably recompensed for their land.

They bought two adjoining three-room HDB flats in Yishun, and later bought a two-storey shophouse in Hougang which the sisters eventually turned into a hair salon business.

Out of convenience, the property was registered under the sole defendant’s name, but all the siblings chipped in to pay for the mortgage, with the tacit understanding that the investment returns would be split evenly among them for retirement.

The Black Sheep Rears Its Head

The tacit understanding, however, seemed to fall apart after their mother passed away in 2016.

The family noted that the sole defendant started behaving in a manner that made the rest feel like he was going to claim the entire shophouse for himself.

It’s hard to fool someone who has been by your side for your whole life, after all.

The rest of the siblings felt that it was unfair, rightly so, because everyone knew that the shophouse was meant for their retirement and it was paid with the money that family painstakingly earned.

The tensions escalated to a heated family meeting, which reportedly saw “plenty of shouting and arguing”.

After nearly three hours in a five versus one argument—there was no way he was ever going to win that fight, buddy—the man surrendered and signed a document that stated the shophouse would be shared equally among the six siblings.

Except he later turned around and sought legal advice, even lodging a police report against his siblings and claiming that they forced him to sign the documents under “physical threats of violence”.

Dude, you’re lucky your family didn’t hit you.

No police actions were taken against the siblings, but it certainly incensed the siblings enough to sue their brother over the shophouse as one unit.

Join our Telegram channel for more entertaining and informative articles at https://t.me/goodyfeedsg or download the Goody Feed app here: https://goodyfeed.com/app/

Importance of Keeping Records

The five siblings won the case by the landslide due to one word: paperwork.

They had a star witness, their youngest sister, who had the foresight of keeping all the records and documents relating to the shophouse and how the loans were paid off.

The High Court Judge Ang Cheng Hock even praised her as “clearly the most capable and competent” among the siblings when it came to handling the family’s finances.

The youngest sister, aged 54, has an “O” Level qualifications as well as a hairdressing certificate, so she was in the thick of things when it involved the family’s money and business.

During the court proceedings, she testified that she was the one who filled in the application form for the shophouse, admitting that there was “no special reason” as to why she used the sole defendant’s name, since it was believed that he was representing all of them.

In turn, the judge noted that while the sole defendant was the legal owner on the papers, he didn’t possess any of the relevant documents.

Through her meticulous bookkeeping, the youngest sister was able to show that she paid the mortgage instalments with money from her own bank account, because the income from their hair-dressing salon was deposited there by default.

The sole defendant attempted to fabricate his own version of the truth of how he became the sole owner of both the shophouse and hair salon business—which he had never partook in—but he had so many facts wrong that the judge deemed his statement invalid.

Better yet, he managed to get the hair salon’s name wrong, which is one of the most basic facts an owner should be clear about.

On HDB Prohibitions and Other Legalities

One of the key contentions in this case was whether the brother could ignore his siblings’ claim because the Housing and Development Act (HDA) prohibits owners from holding such properties on trust for other people.

Justice Ang stated that the law’s purpose is to stop ineligible people from owning HDB flats, whereas all the siblings had the capability and eligibility to register themselves as the owner, had they chosen to do so.

In the final ruling on Friday (22 Apr), the Court of Appeal affirmed the Judge’s remark about the siblings’ eligibility to own HDB properties, while pointing out that the HDA doesn’t stop people from having stakes in their families’ assets

Since the siblings had come to a general consensus that they each have one-sixth of the shophouse, the Court of Appeal also upheld Justice Ang’s order to sell the property, and then equally divide the proceeds among the six siblings.

Furthermore, the sole defendant was made to pay for his siblings’ legal costs for losing the case, which costs $50,000 in total.

Serves him right.

If there was more karmic justice in play, his one-sixth should have gone to his other five siblings as well.

Advice for Retirement Planning

As a parting note, here are some tips to ensure that you won’t find yourself in a legal tussle over your retirement funds.

Always ensure that you have control over your own money, like your bank and Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts, as well as physical assets like property.

Since we’re in the midst of the digital age, it applies to any online investments, NFTs, or cryptocurrency.

It is of paramount importance that there are proper documents which state what each person owns.

It will also go a long way in avoiding any family disputes too, since everything is indisputably written in black and white.