<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Son must share $7m estate with family
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Words in tycoon's will not clear in showing his intentions: Court </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By K.C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent
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The court rules that Mr Sebastian Ng is not the sole heir to tycoon Ng Teow Yhee's fortune. -- PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE son of a late tycoon will have to share his father's $7 million fortune with his family members after the Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday that he was not the sole heir.
The disputed estate belonged to the late shipping tycoon Ng Teow Yhee, who died of cancer in 2001.
In November 2007, the High Court ruled that Mr Ng's third son, Mr Sebastian Ng, 52, should inherit the
$7 million estate according to the tycoon's will drawn up in November 2000.
But the will was contested by the tycoon's wife Low Ah Cheow, two other children and two grandchildren.
The Court of Appeal decided that the words used in Mr Ng's will were not clear in showing his intentions.
Mr Sebastian Ng's lawyers from Rodyk & Davidson had argued there was 'nothing suspicious' about the will as Sebastian was Mr Ng's favourite son and he was unhappy with the rest of the family when he made the will.
But the evidence raised 'grave' doubts as to whether, by the will, the tycoon had expressly wanted Mr Sebastian Ng to get all of his estate, said Justice V.K. Rajah, writing on behalf of the three-judge court.
At issue, among other things, were the words 'on trust' which had appeared in a key clause in the will and had been capitalised and underlined.
The Court of Appeal queried if this meant Mr Sebastian Ng was to hold the estate in trust for the rest of the family members, who included his 85-year-old mother and seven siblings.
'He cannot in any legal sense be said to be holding the estate on trust for himself,' said Justice Rajah.
The will had called for the assets to be distributed, and it did not make sense for the assets to be distributed to only one person, he added.
Other factors also weighed heavily on the court's mind.
While Mr Sebastian Ng was the favourite son, the elder Ng had continued to provide for his wife and other children.
Until the time he died, he continued to live with his daughter Jenny, who is mentally challenged, and had arranged for her to get a monthly salary. This raised doubts as he would have no reason to provide for his family if ties had really been damaged beyond repair.
He also did not show a clear intention in his will to exclude the rest of the children from a share of his estate.
With the judgment, Mr Ng's widow, whose case was argued by lawyers Lim Joo Toon and Joseph Tan, will get half of her husband's estate, while the other half will be shared among the eight siblings.
The case moved the court to remind lawyers to handle the job of preparing wills in a professional way, given the potential turmoil it can cause among disaffected siblings.
The court also took issue with the lawyer who executed the will in November 2000 for Mr Ng when he was in hospital. The court said lawyer Alan Lee gave only a brief explanation in Hokkien to the sick man on what being a trustee entailed and did not take him through the will line-by-line.
The court took this to be an 'especially significant omission'.
Justice Rajah said it was 'unsafe' to rely on Mr Lee's evidence of what the testator wanted vis-a-vis the drafting of the will to help the court decide what Mr Ng really intended by the words in the will.
The court said lawyers involved in preparing wills should thoroughly talk their clients through all legal issues, record all discussions and confirm that the contents of the wills as drafted accurately reflect the clients' wishes.
Translations, where required, must be competently done and there should be no half-measures, said Justice Rajah. 'Regrettably, it seems to us, all too often nowadays, solicitors appear to consider the preparation of a will to be no more than a routine exercise in form filling. This is wrong,' he said.
Contacted yesterday, sibling Sunny Ng, 58, said he was happy that his mother could continue to live in the family's Wiltshire Road house follow-ing the verdict. 'I hope my brother Sebastian will come to visit her some time soon - we are the same family.'
[email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Words in tycoon's will not clear in showing his intentions: Court </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By K.C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
The court rules that Mr Sebastian Ng is not the sole heir to tycoon Ng Teow Yhee's fortune. -- PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE son of a late tycoon will have to share his father's $7 million fortune with his family members after the Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday that he was not the sole heir.
The disputed estate belonged to the late shipping tycoon Ng Teow Yhee, who died of cancer in 2001.
In November 2007, the High Court ruled that Mr Ng's third son, Mr Sebastian Ng, 52, should inherit the
$7 million estate according to the tycoon's will drawn up in November 2000.
But the will was contested by the tycoon's wife Low Ah Cheow, two other children and two grandchildren.
The Court of Appeal decided that the words used in Mr Ng's will were not clear in showing his intentions.
Mr Sebastian Ng's lawyers from Rodyk & Davidson had argued there was 'nothing suspicious' about the will as Sebastian was Mr Ng's favourite son and he was unhappy with the rest of the family when he made the will.
But the evidence raised 'grave' doubts as to whether, by the will, the tycoon had expressly wanted Mr Sebastian Ng to get all of his estate, said Justice V.K. Rajah, writing on behalf of the three-judge court.
At issue, among other things, were the words 'on trust' which had appeared in a key clause in the will and had been capitalised and underlined.
The Court of Appeal queried if this meant Mr Sebastian Ng was to hold the estate in trust for the rest of the family members, who included his 85-year-old mother and seven siblings.
'He cannot in any legal sense be said to be holding the estate on trust for himself,' said Justice Rajah.
The will had called for the assets to be distributed, and it did not make sense for the assets to be distributed to only one person, he added.
Other factors also weighed heavily on the court's mind.
While Mr Sebastian Ng was the favourite son, the elder Ng had continued to provide for his wife and other children.
Until the time he died, he continued to live with his daughter Jenny, who is mentally challenged, and had arranged for her to get a monthly salary. This raised doubts as he would have no reason to provide for his family if ties had really been damaged beyond repair.
He also did not show a clear intention in his will to exclude the rest of the children from a share of his estate.
With the judgment, Mr Ng's widow, whose case was argued by lawyers Lim Joo Toon and Joseph Tan, will get half of her husband's estate, while the other half will be shared among the eight siblings.
The case moved the court to remind lawyers to handle the job of preparing wills in a professional way, given the potential turmoil it can cause among disaffected siblings.
The court also took issue with the lawyer who executed the will in November 2000 for Mr Ng when he was in hospital. The court said lawyer Alan Lee gave only a brief explanation in Hokkien to the sick man on what being a trustee entailed and did not take him through the will line-by-line.
The court took this to be an 'especially significant omission'.
Justice Rajah said it was 'unsafe' to rely on Mr Lee's evidence of what the testator wanted vis-a-vis the drafting of the will to help the court decide what Mr Ng really intended by the words in the will.
The court said lawyers involved in preparing wills should thoroughly talk their clients through all legal issues, record all discussions and confirm that the contents of the wills as drafted accurately reflect the clients' wishes.
Translations, where required, must be competently done and there should be no half-measures, said Justice Rajah. 'Regrettably, it seems to us, all too often nowadays, solicitors appear to consider the preparation of a will to be no more than a routine exercise in form filling. This is wrong,' he said.
Contacted yesterday, sibling Sunny Ng, 58, said he was happy that his mother could continue to live in the family's Wiltshire Road house follow-ing the verdict. 'I hope my brother Sebastian will come to visit her some time soon - we are the same family.'
[email protected]
