Legal News

A successful female investment banker is contesting a multimillion pound settlement in a divorce case involving her stay-at-home husband, after the couple’s 15-year marriage collapsed following a row on holiday.

Lena Tan, 54, and her husband Wang Choy, 56, broke up in January 2012 after arguing on holiday in Singapore.

Mr Choy is alleging he sacrificed his own banking career to stay at home as a house husband, while his wife pursued her career as a top investment banker.

Ms Tan’s career as a hedge fund manager netted her a multimillion pound property portfolio, with a mortgage-free £4.5m home in Kensington and homes in Hong Kong and Malaysia. The couple’s two sons are at boarding school in England.

Ms Tan has initiated divorce proceedings in Malaysia while her husband wants the case heard in London. A High Court ruling last year recognised that Mr Choy was habitually resident in London and the case could be heard in England, where the Family Court offers more generous spousal settlements in divorce cases than in Malaysia.

However, lawyers acting for Ms Tan say that although half the couple’s wealth is invested in England, the couple’s true home is in Hong Kong.

Mr Choy returned to the UK from a holiday in Singapore after the couple rowed during the Christmas and New Year holiday period in 2011-2012.

However Ms Tan’s lawyers asked the Court of Appeal in London to consider that, whereas Mr Choy in unemployed and can travel to court in Malaysia without affecting his work schedule, Ms Tan is the family breadwinner and is based in Hong Kong for her work, which makes it more disruptive for her to travel to the UK for divorce hearings.

The court was told that the couple had enjoyed “an international marriage” during which they moved around and principally between the UK, Malyasia and Hong Kong. However, since separating from his wife, Mr Choy has obtained a British National Insurance number and a UK driving licence, the court was told, showing his commitment to a life in Britain.

The couple are also in dispute over a wine collection worth £1m – Mr Choy received half the value and an extra £100,000 to help pay his legal bills.

A ruling on the case will be made at a later date.

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