Hong Kong’s highest court has ruled that divorcing couples should receive an equal share of assets in most cases, in a landmark ruling lawyers say could trigger a rush of “big money” divorce cases.
A three-judge panel decided on Friday that an unidentified 47-year-old woman, who stopped working after marrying a Hong Kong businessman in 1996, was entitled to receive half of her ex-husband’s assets, or HK$2.68m (US$346,000). Their childless marriage ended in 2003.
“To confine a non-working wife’s award to the sum needed to meet her ‘reasonable requirements’ and to permit the husband to keep the remaining assets is patently unfair and discriminatory,” Justice Roberto Ribeiro wrote in a Court of Final Appeal judgment.