You will be able to describe the principles a Singapore court uses to divide assets on divorce.
Joanne has been married to Kelvin for eight years. They have a six-year-old son and a four-room HDB flat in Sengkang, bought with both their CPF. For the last two years she has worked part-time so she can do the school runs. Lately, the marriage has been falling apart, and late at night she finds herself searching for one question: if we divorce, do I lose everything, since most of the money came from his salary?
That fear is common, especially for the partner who earned less or stepped back from paid work. This module covers what happens to money when a marriage ends. It starts with the principles the law uses to divide what a couple owns. It describes them in general terms only. Every case turns on its own facts, and anyone facing a divorce should speak to a family lawyer about their own situation.
For non-Muslim marriages in Singapore, divorce and the division of matrimonial assets are governed by the Women's Charter. Cases are heard in the Family Justice Courts.
For Muslim marriages, divorce comes under the Administration of Muslim Law Act, and is handled by the Syariah Court, which also deals with the division of matrimonial property for those marriages. The rules and the process differ in important ways, so if you are Muslim, check the Syariah Court's guidance and speak to a lawyer who handles Syariah Court matters. The rest of this lesson describes the position under the Women's Charter.
When a marriage ends, the court has the power to divide the matrimonial assets between the spouses. The Women's Charter asks the court to make a division that is just and equitable: fair in all the circumstances of that marriage.
There is no automatic equal split, and no fixed formula that applies to every couple. The court looks at the whole marriage: how long it lasted, what each spouse contributed, the needs of any children, and other factors the law sets out.
The couple can also agree the division between themselves, often with the help of lawyers or mediation. The court still has to approve the arrangement, and the same principles guide what is fair.
This is the point that matters most for Joanne. The court considers both kinds of contribution to a marriage.
Financial contributions are the money each spouse put in: salary used for the household, CPF and cash used for the flat, savings and investments built up during the marriage.
Non-financial contributions are everything else that keeps a family going: looking after the home, caring for the children, caring for family members, and supporting the other spouse's career. The law recognises these as real contributions. A spouse who cut back their paid work to look after the children has contributed to the marriage, even if their income was lower.
So the answer to Joanne's late-night question is no, she would not lose everything because she earned less. How much each spouse receives depends on the facts of the case, and only a lawyer who knows those facts can give her a view on her own situation. But her years of part-time work and caregiving are not invisible to the court. Lesson 3.3, Unpaid work and contributions that are not cash, made the same point about fairness inside a marriage.
Broadly, matrimonial assets are assets acquired during the marriage by either spouse or both, together with the family home. They can include:
The matrimonial home, whether an HDB flat or private property, including the CPF used to pay for it Savings and money in bank accounts CPF balances Investments, such as shares, unit trusts and bonds Some insurance policies, typically those with a cash value A business or a share in one, and other property
Some assets may fall outside the pool, such as certain gifts or inheritances received by one spouse, depending on how they were treated during the marriage. Assets owned before the marriage are treated differently from those acquired during it, with exceptions. These are exactly the questions a family lawyer can answer for a specific case, so do not assume an asset is in or out without advice.
It does not matter whose name an asset is in. An account in Kelvin's sole name can still be a matrimonial asset if it was built up during the marriage.
Joanne cannot know yet how a court would divide their assets, but she can stop guessing about what they own. Go through what each of you holds in the same way, and note a rough value for each item.
List the assets each of you holds that could count as matrimonial assets, with an approximate value.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).