SINGAPORE - Two children of an 84-year-old widow with severe Alzheimer’s disease, who are tussling to control their parents’ wealth, faced off in court over who should be appointed as their mother’s deputy to manage her properties and affairs.
Mr T, who described his mother as a “vengeful woman” who “married for monetary reason”, argued that given the acrimonious relationship among the siblings, it was best to appoint a professional deputy. The judge found that she had lost her mental capacity by then, when she appointed her husband and Ms J as her donees to make decisions on her behalf.
The patriarch, who died aged 92 in February 2021, left a will which has not yet been proved, and may be the subject of the next litigation, noted the judge. The family fortune was built from the 1960s when the siblings’ parents were in the leather trading business.