What Are The Ancillary Matters You Need To Take Into Consideration During A Divorce In Singapore?
Published by Bonsai Law
Whenever you hear someone talking about the ancillary matters of a divorce, it generally refers to the terms and conditions surrounding how the following areas will be dealt with at the point of divorce:-
- Care-giving and Access Arrangements for Children.
- Maintenance of Children.
- Maintenance of Spouse.
- Division of Matrimonial Assets.
Care-giving And Access Arrangements For Children
During a divorce, the following factors have to be decided upon if there are any children to the marriage.
Custody Of The Children
A custody order gives the parent with custody the authority and responsibility over the major decisions in a child’s life, such as the education institution the child should study at, or the religion a child should be exposed to.
There are various types of custody orders:-
- Sole custody - where the adult awarded sole custody gets to make the major decisions for the child.
- Joint custody – where both parties jointly get to make the major decisions for the child.
- No custody – where there are no actual disputes between the parents on the major issues concerning the child, the parents are able to just maintain the status quo of parenting their child together.
How Does The Court Decide On Who Should Get Custody?
The Court places the utmost importance on the welfare of the child.
Typically, in Singapore, the Court tends to lean towards granting joint custody. This is to encourage both parents to continue to be involved in their children’s lives through joint parenting. It is only on rare occasions that the Court will award sole custody to a parent, as the threshold for such an order is a high one.
Care And Control Of The Children
The parent with the care and control of the child has the authority to make everyday short-term decisions for the child, and this order also determines which parent the child should live with.
The parent who is able to give better daily care and upbringing of the child will usually be granted the order.
The Court generally takes into consideration factors such as:
- The immediate welfare of the child.
- The age of the child.
- Preserving the status quo – so as not to cause unnecessary changes to the child’s daily life and routine.
- Where there are siblings, they should not be separated.
Access
The parent who does not have care and control of the child will be given access to the child. Since the child can only live with one parent (the parent who has care and control), it is in the interest of the child to be able to have access to the other parent, and maintain a relationship with them.
Types of access that can be granted:
- Reasonable or liberal access.
- Scheduled access.
- Supervised access.
Maintenance Of The Children
Under Section 68 of the Women’s Charter (Cap 353), it is the duty of the parents to maintain their children, regardless of the dissolution of the marriage.
How Does The Court Decide On How Much The Child Needs?
Generally, the Court takes into consideration various factors when deciding the amount of the maintenance for the child. Some examples would be:-
- The age and financial requirements of the child.
- The financial status of the parents.
- The standard of living of the child.
- The educational requirements of the child.
- Any mental or physical disabilities of the child.
Maintenance Of Wife / Incapacitated Husband
Under section 113 of the Women’s Charter, a man may be required to pay maintenance to his wife/former wife, or a woman may be required to pay maintenance to her incapacitated husband/former husband.
How Does The Court Decide On How Much I Should Be Paying My Spouse?
The Court considers the following factors:-
- the income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources which each of the parties to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;
- the financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which each of the parties to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;
- the standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage;
- the age of each party to the marriage and the duration of the marriage;
- any physical or mental disability of either of the parties to the marriage;
- the contributions made by each of the parties to the marriage to the welfare of the family, including any contribution made by looking after the home or caring for the family; and
- in the case of proceedings for divorce or nullity of marriage, the value to either of the parties to the marriage of any benefit (for example, a pension) which, by reason of the dissolution or annulment of the marriage that party will lose the chance of acquiring.
Division Of Matrimonial Assets
What Is A Matrimonial Asset?
The statutory definition of ‘Matrimonial Asset’ is in the Women's Charter and is stated as follows:-
- any asset acquired before the marriage by one party or both parties to the marriage
- ordinarily used or enjoyed by both parties or one or more of their children while the parties are residing together for shelter or transportation or for household, education, recreational, social or aesthetic purposes; or
- which has been substantially improved during the marriage by the other party or by both parties to the marriage; and
- any other asset of any nature acquired during the marriage by one party or both parties to the marriage,
but does not include any asset (not being a matrimonial home) that has been acquired by one party at any time by gift or inheritance and that has not been substantially improved during the marriage by the other party or by both parties to the marriage.
Specific assets that you and your spouse might need to deal with include, but are not limited to:
- Your Matrimonial Home
- CPF-related Matrimonial Assets
- Investments or Businesses
- Insurance Policies
- Bank Accounts
- Vehicles
- Any other Properties
- Overseas Properties
How Does The Court Decide On The Division Of The Matrimonial Assets?
Section 112(2) of the Women’s charter states that the Court takes into consideration:
- the extent of the contributions made by each party in money, property or work towards acquiring, improving or maintaining the matrimonial assets;
- any debt owing or obligation incurred or undertaken by either party for their joint benefit or for the benefit of any child of the marriage;
- the needs of the children (if any) of the marriage;
- the extent of the contributions made by each party to the welfare of the family, including looking after the home or caring for the family or any aged or infirm relative or dependant of either party;
- any agreement between the parties with respect to the ownership and division of the matrimonial assets made in contemplation of divorce;
- any period of rent free occupation or other benefit enjoyed by one party in the matrimonial home to the exclusion of the other party;
- the giving of assistance or support by one party to the other party (whether or not of a material kind), including the giving of assistance or support which aids the other party in the carrying on of his or her occupation or business; and
- the matters referred to in section 114(1) so far as they are relevant.
Dealing With The Ancillary Matters
It is understandable and almost inevitable that disagreements will arise between you and your spouse when dealing with these Ancillary Matters. However, couples are generally encouraged to try their best to come to an agreement, allowing them to go for the Uncontested Divorce Process.
Not only will this make things less acrimonious between you and your spouse, but it will also save you time and money during the divorce process. This process would also allow you to have more decision-making powers, whereas a contested divorce would give the judge the power to make the decisions for you.
=> Read more on the Differences between the Uncontested and Contested Divorce Process in Singapore.
If you are contemplating your options with respect to whether an
uncontested or contested divorce is right for you, we can assist. Just
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