- Febuary 20, 2023
Anything that you own during the course of the marriage is considered matrimonial property and matrimonial property will be divided using the structured approach. A simplified example is as follows: Husband and Wife pay 50 – 50 (direct contribution) for their HDB flat.
The wife has been the primary caregiver of the children and it is a 10-year marriage. The court will award around 65 to 70% indirect contribution to the wife for her efforts in caring for the children amongst others.
Thus, the house will be divided in the following ratio:
As such the wife will obtain 60% of the sale proceeds and 60% of all the CPF paid for the house less her own CPF. This would mean that she will get an extra portion of CPF from her husband.
It is critical to understand that the above method will not be applicable if it is a single long income marriage.
However, if one were to consider a scenario where the wife has left the house for years and it is the husband who took care of the kids, the husband will likely be able to obtain a higher share of indirect contributions thus allowing him to have a greater share when it comes to the division of the flat.
Some parties may choose to have the flat transferred instead of selling it in the open market. The same formula applies with the exception that one party has to refund the CPF and probably provide some cash consideration as well, depending on the selling price and individual contributions.
Divorce is not about writing stories. We need to focus on contributions and strategize.
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