You will be able to list the money decisions a separating couple has to make.
Joanne, from lesson 8.1, now understands the principle: a just and equitable division that counts her years of caregiving. But principles do not tell her where she and her son will live, what happens to the CPF she put into the flat, or how school fees and tuition will be paid. Those are the questions that keep her awake, and they are practical ones.
When a marriage ends, a couple faces a handful of large money decisions, and each one has its own rules. This lesson goes through the three biggest: the home, CPF and the children. It explains how each works in general terms and where to find the official guidance. It does not replace advice from a family lawyer on your own case.
CPF savings are often among the largest assets a couple has, alongside the home. As lesson 8.1 explained, they can count as matrimonial assets.
As part of dividing the assets, the court can order CPF savings to be transferred from one spouse's CPF account to the other's. Nobody receives cash in hand: the savings go from one CPF account into another and remain bound by CPF rules on how they can be used, with the CPF Board carrying out the transfer once it has the court order. Its website explains how CPF is handled on divorce and what the receiving spouse can use the money for.
CPF used for the home also matters. As lesson 3.2, What counts as a shared cost, explained, when a property bought with CPF is sold, the CPF each owner used, plus the accrued interest, generally has to be refunded to that owner's CPF account from the sale proceeds. A sale on divorce works the same way, which affects how much cash is actually left to divide. This is one reason keeping a record of each partner's CPF contributions to the home pays off.
If the home is an HDB flat, what happens to it depends on HDB's rules as well as the court's decision. Even if a court order says one spouse should keep the flat, HDB's own conditions decide whether that spouse is eligible to keep it.
HDB's rules can depend on things such as the spouse's citizenship, whether they would still form an eligible household, for example with the children, whether the flat has met its minimum occupation period, and their ability to pay the loan alone. If neither spouse is eligible to keep the flat, it may have to be sold. HDB also has its own rules on buying another flat after a divorce.
These rules are detailed and change from time to time, so check them on HDB's website and raise them with your lawyer early. For private property the court has more direct control, though the loan and the bank's consent still matter.
For Joanne, the questions are concrete. Could she keep the Sengkang flat with her son, and could she afford the loan alone? If not, would there be enough from a sale, after CPF refunds, for her to buy or rent somewhere near his school?
Dividing the assets and supporting the children are two different things.
Both parents have a duty to maintain their children. Child maintenance is the money one parent pays towards the children's needs, such as food, housing, school fees, enrichment, medical costs and childcare. It is decided separately from the division of matrimonial assets, and the question the court asks is what the children need, whatever either parent thinks of the other.
The court looks at the children's needs and each parent's means. Parents can also agree the amount between themselves, and the arrangement can be changed later if circumstances change, such as a job loss or a child's new needs.
A spouse may also, in some circumstances, be ordered to pay maintenance to the other spouse. That is again separate, with its own rules under the Women's Charter, and a lawyer can explain whether it might apply.
The Family Justice Courts publish guides on the divorce process, on how matrimonial assets and maintenance are dealt with, and on the mediation and counselling support open to families. HDB and the CPF Board each explain their own rules on their websites. For Muslim marriages, the Syariah Court publishes its own guidance.
These sources explain the process. They cannot tell you what a court would decide in your case. A family lawyer can, and many couples find that an early consultation saves money and stress later.
Joanne starts by writing down her three biggest decisions and the official source she will read first on each. Make the same list for yourself, even if separation is only a possibility you hope never comes.
Write the three biggest money decisions you would face and the official source to read on each.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).