A Vietnamese woman stands to inherit half of her late husband’s estate after the Court of Appeal declined to declare their 2011 marriage of convenience void on Wednesday (21 October).
The marriage predates a provision in the Women’s Charter that voids marriages of convenience solemnised on or after 1 October 2016. That provision does not apply retrospectively.
Son Sought to Exclude Wife From Inheritance
Mr Cheng Meng Koon married Ms Dang Lan Anh on 26 January 2011, following a divorce from his first wife.
He continued living with his sister and did not tell his family about the marriage. He died on 8 January 2012.
The family learnt about Ms Dang through a March 2012 letter from the Insolvency and Public Trustee’s Office, which said she was entitled to part of his CPF money as his wife.
In October 2024, his son from his first marriage, Mr Cheng Tze Tzuen, applied to have the marriage declared void and Ms Dang excluded from his father’s estate. The High Court made no order on his application, prompting his appeal.
Majority Found No Basis to Void Marriage
Justices Debbie Ong and Ang Cheng Hock held that the grounds for declaring a marriage void were confined to those in the Women’s Charter.
Criminal offences connected with a marriage of convenience did not, by themselves, invalidate the marriage.
Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon disagreed. He would have declared the marriage void on the basis that it had not been solemnised under a valid marriage licence.
The appeal was dismissed by a majority. However, the court did not rule on the estate’s administration or distribution, which fell outside the appeal.
Why the Marriage Date Matters
Section 11A covers marriages involving an immigration advantage and an inducement or reward for entering the marriage, subject to its statutory exception.
Its commencement date is crucial here: it applies to marriages solemnised on or after 1 October 2016. The couple married more than five years earlier.
