China woman, 56, demands S$10,000 in living expenses from S'porean husband, 70; application rejected

A 56-year-old Chinese woman living in Shanghai took her 72-year-old Singaporean husband to court, seeking S$10,000 in temporary financial support per month.

She claimed that her monthly living allowance had been reduced from S$3,000 to S$600 and applied for interim maintenance to help cover expenses such as hiring a domestic helper, beauty treatments, travel, and jewellery.

The judge dismissed her application, finding she had failed to prove that her husband had neglected his duty to support her or refused to provide financial assistance.

Living expenses

According to a judgment dated Sep. 29, the couple married in China in 2012.

The woman initially lived in Singapore but moved back to China after her visit pass expired at the end of 2013, while her husband stayed on in Singapore; the couple have no children.

According to the woman, her husband transferred S$3,000 to her every month for living expenses after she returned to China.

He would also give her an additional S$7,000 for shopping and travel expenses whenever they travelled to see each other.

As a result, she said her standard of living was equivalent to more than S$10,000 per month.

However, starting in September 2023, the woman said her husband stopped travelling to China to see her but continued transferring only S$3,000 per month.

The woman said the monthly amount was further reduced to S$600 in October 2024.

Husband's account

On the other hand, the man resisted the application to pay interim maintenance on the basis that he had already been providing reasonable maintenance.

Firstly, he denied that he gave her any allowance, cars, house, or assets when they were first married.

While the husband acknowledged that he had given his wife S$3,000 per month during the pandemic, he denied providing her with additional cash or about S$10,000 per month in living expenses.

His current monthly CPF income is about S$1,629, and he said he had transferred about 3,000 yuan (approximately S$570) to his wife.

During the hearing, after repeated questioning by his wife's lawyer, the husband admitted that 3,000 yuan (S$570) a month was insufficient to meet her spending habits.

The wife argued that this amounted to an admission that her husband had failed to fulfil his duty to support her.

Application rejected

The judge pointed out that verbal admissions made in court do not, by themselves, determine the outcome of a case.

"An admission, made outside of court or under cross-examination in court, is only one factor forming part of the evidential record. Even if I had accepted the Respondent’s admissions at face value, the court would nonetheless have to undertake the judicial exercise of determining the Applicant’s reasonable expenses and what the shortfall was in order to make a maintenance order," the judge wrote.

After excluding the wife's non-essential expenses, the judge assessed her reasonable monthly maintenance at S$2,559.

The judge found that her rental and pension income, together with the approximately S$570 provided by her husband, were sufficient to cover those expenses.

As such, the judge found that the wife had failed to prove that her husband had neglected his duty to support her or refused to provide financial assistance.