MinMin
April 18th, 2008, 09:36 AM
ANITA MUI'S WILL: NOT LEAVING MUM EVERYTHING
I'll fight for all the money
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SHE was afraid that her mum would squander her fortune if she left it all to her. So late Cantopop singer and actress Anita Mui didn't do so.
But Ms Tam Mei-kam, 84, is not having any of that and is fighting a court battle to gain control of her daughter's entire fortune, reported The Standard.
She is challenging the validity of the will that was executed at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on 3 Dec, 2003, less than a month before Mui died of cervical cancer at the age of 40.
Ms Tam, as the plaintiff in the probate action, asked the High Court in Hong Kong to declare the will void, and allow her to be the sole beneficiary of the estate in the event of intestacy.
The value of Mui's estate was about HK$30 million ($5m) to HK$35m in 2003, the court was told yesterday.
The current value, however, is estimated at more than HK$100m.
Mr Albert Yau Kai-cheong, representing New Horizon Buddhist Association, one of the beneficiaries named in Mui's will, said the singer decided to make a will and set up a trust with the help of her godmother, Ms Sheila Ho, out of concern for her mother's future.
She was afraid that, if she were to leave her properties to her mother absolutely, she would squander them in no time, Mr Yau said at the opening of the 25-day hearing.
'It's our case that the plaintiff is very bad in managing her own finances.'
According to Mr Yau, Mui's will indicated she would set up a trust in which her mother would receive HK$70,000 a month as living expenses during her lifetime.
The two daughters of Mr Mui Tak-ming, one of Mui's older brothers, and the two sons of MsMui Oi-fong, the singer's late sister, will receive HK$100,000 a year as university expenses, up to HK$1.7 million.
Mui also left two of her many properties one in Happy Valley and one in London to her old friend, designer Eddie Lau Kai, who is a respondent in the case.
The New Horizon Buddhist Association, devoted to promoting Tibetan Buddhism, will be the final repository under the trust.
Mui was a Buddhist.
According to Mr Yau, she wanted to transfer all her assets to the trust before she died to avoid paying estate duty, which in 2003 was 15 per cent.
But her assets were not transferred to the trust in time.
Ms Tam claimed her daughter did not have the mental capacity to sign the will when she was under the influence of tranquilisers to treat her illnesses, which can make the patient confused.
She also believed Mui did not have the necessary educational background to understand the setting up of any complex trust or testamentary arrangements.
The association will summon Dr Peter Teo, a doctor who was present when Mui signed the will, to testify that she did have a 'sound and clear mind' when she made the legal arrangement, despite her declining health.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,162337,00.html?
I'll fight for all the money
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2008-04-17/NP_NEWS_1_CURRENT_HK17NEW.jpg
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2008-04-17/NP_NEWS_1_CURRENT_HK17_8.jpg
SHE was afraid that her mum would squander her fortune if she left it all to her. So late Cantopop singer and actress Anita Mui didn't do so.
But Ms Tam Mei-kam, 84, is not having any of that and is fighting a court battle to gain control of her daughter's entire fortune, reported The Standard.
She is challenging the validity of the will that was executed at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on 3 Dec, 2003, less than a month before Mui died of cervical cancer at the age of 40.
Ms Tam, as the plaintiff in the probate action, asked the High Court in Hong Kong to declare the will void, and allow her to be the sole beneficiary of the estate in the event of intestacy.
The value of Mui's estate was about HK$30 million ($5m) to HK$35m in 2003, the court was told yesterday.
The current value, however, is estimated at more than HK$100m.
Mr Albert Yau Kai-cheong, representing New Horizon Buddhist Association, one of the beneficiaries named in Mui's will, said the singer decided to make a will and set up a trust with the help of her godmother, Ms Sheila Ho, out of concern for her mother's future.
She was afraid that, if she were to leave her properties to her mother absolutely, she would squander them in no time, Mr Yau said at the opening of the 25-day hearing.
'It's our case that the plaintiff is very bad in managing her own finances.'
According to Mr Yau, Mui's will indicated she would set up a trust in which her mother would receive HK$70,000 a month as living expenses during her lifetime.
The two daughters of Mr Mui Tak-ming, one of Mui's older brothers, and the two sons of MsMui Oi-fong, the singer's late sister, will receive HK$100,000 a year as university expenses, up to HK$1.7 million.
Mui also left two of her many properties one in Happy Valley and one in London to her old friend, designer Eddie Lau Kai, who is a respondent in the case.
The New Horizon Buddhist Association, devoted to promoting Tibetan Buddhism, will be the final repository under the trust.
Mui was a Buddhist.
According to Mr Yau, she wanted to transfer all her assets to the trust before she died to avoid paying estate duty, which in 2003 was 15 per cent.
But her assets were not transferred to the trust in time.
Ms Tam claimed her daughter did not have the mental capacity to sign the will when she was under the influence of tranquilisers to treat her illnesses, which can make the patient confused.
She also believed Mui did not have the necessary educational background to understand the setting up of any complex trust or testamentary arrangements.
The association will summon Dr Peter Teo, a doctor who was present when Mui signed the will, to testify that she did have a 'sound and clear mind' when she made the legal arrangement, despite her declining health.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,162337,00.html?