Division of matrimonial assets in Singapore: what counts and how courts divide it

Just and equitable, not automatically equal

Under section 112 of the Women’s Charter, the court has the power to divide matrimonial assets between divorcing spouses in the proportions it considers just and equitable. Singapore does not start from an assumption that everything is split down the middle.

Division usually happens at the ancillary matters stage, after Interim Judgment. Many couples agree the division themselves, through negotiation or mediation, and ask the court to record their agreement as an order. Where they cannot agree, the court decides.

What counts as a matrimonial asset

Broadly, matrimonial assets include:

• Any asset acquired during the marriage by either or both spouses, whether in one name or jointly.
• Assets acquired before the marriage that were ordinarily used or enjoyed by the family, such as a home or car, or that were substantially improved during the marriage by the other spouse or by both.
• Common examples include the matrimonial home (including HDB flats), CPF savings built up during the marriage, bank accounts, shares, investments, insurance policies, cars and businesses.

Gifts, inheritances and key dates

Assets received by one spouse as a gift or inheritance are generally not matrimonial assets, unless they were substantially improved during the marriage or became the matrimonial home.

Recent law firm guidance indicates that the pool of assets is generally fixed as at the date of Interim Judgment, even if the couple had lived apart for years before that. Most assets are valued at the ancillary matters hearing, although bank and CPF balances are typically taken at the Interim Judgment date. Large sums spent or transferred after proceedings begin may still be counted in the pool.

The ANJ v ANK structured approach

In ANJ v ANK [2015] SGCA 34, the Court of Appeal set out a structured approach that courts generally use for dual-income marriages, where both spouses worked. It has broadly these steps:

• Direct contributions: the court works out a ratio for each spouse’s financial contributions towards acquiring or improving the matrimonial assets, such as payments for the home, CPF used for the flat and loan repayments.
• Indirect contributions: the court works out a second ratio for each spouse’s contributions to the family’s welfare, financial and non-financial, such as caring for children, running the home and household expenses.
• Averaging: the two ratios are averaged to give each spouse’s overall contribution.
• Adjustment: the court may adjust the result, for example by giving more weight to one type of contribution, to reach a just and equitable outcome in light of the factors listed in the Women’s Charter.

How the approach is applied in practice

The Court of Appeal has warned against applying the structured approach in a rigid, mechanical or overly arithmetical way. Where records are incomplete, the court makes reasonable approximations rather than trying to account for every dollar over a long marriage.

Factors the court may consider include each spouse’s contributions, any debts taken on for the family, the needs of the children, contributions to the welfare of the family, and any agreement between the spouses about their assets.

Following TNL v TNK [2017], the structured approach is generally not used for single-income marriages, where one spouse was primarily the breadwinner and the other primarily the homemaker. The court instead takes a broad-brush approach to both spouses’ direct and indirect contributions across the whole marriage.

Recent appellate decisions have stressed that the label matters less than the roles the spouses actually played. A spouse who worked part-time or intermittently can still be found to have been primarily the homemaker. The approach is also gender-neutral: a husband can be the homemaker spouse.

What orders the court can make

The court has wide powers. It can order a property to be sold and the proceeds divided, transfer a spouse’s share in a flat to the other, postpone a sale, or order a lump sum payment. Where CPF was used for the home, CPF rules may require the amount used to be refunded to the relevant account when the property is sold or transferred.

When to speak with a lawyer

Asset division often involves the largest sums in a divorce. A lawyer can help you identify what is in the pool, gather evidence of your contributions, deal with concerns about hidden assets and assess whether a proposed split is fair before you agree to it.