FCMC 12373 / 2019

[2025] HKFC 78

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

MATRIMONIAL CAUSES

NO. 12373 OF 2019

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JUDGMENT
( Ancillary Relief )

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A. The Trial

1. This is the trial of the Petitioner wife’s (“ W ”) claims for ancillary relief.

B. H’s knowledge of these proceedings

2. The Respondent (“ H ”) did not appear at the trial. Having considered the affirmations filed by W on service, I am satisfied that H has knowledge of these proceedings, he was served with the notice of this trial and the related documents lodged for the purposes of this trial.

3. The Court records showed that H had participated in these proceedings:

3.1. H filed into the Court a Form E on 24 December 2020 and an Answer to W’s Questionnaire on 25 June 2021.

3.2. H attended hearings on 21 September 2020, 30 November 2020, 3 March 2021, 11 June 2021, 24 September 2021 and 4 February 2022 in person.

3.3. H instructed legal representative to attend the hearing on 30 November 2020 on behalf CM Limited (a company wholly owned by him). CM Limited was joined as the 2 ^nd respondent at that time in regard to a dispute over one of the properties, which dispute has now been resolved.

4. There is no reason not to proceed with the trial as scheduled.

C. The Relevant Facts

5. W, aged 56, was born in the Mainland and received education up to the secondary school level.

6. H is 62 years old and has obtained a Master’s degree.

7. They have a long marriage of about 26 years. The parties got married in January 1993 in Hong Kong. They have one adult son (“ Son ”) born in 1999. The petition for divorce was presented in 2019 after W discovered that H has been living with a woman in the Mainland for a considerable period of time and they have a child. The decree absolute was issued on 23 July 2024.

8. The parties came from a humble background. After their marriage in 1993, W was employed as a secretary from 1996 until 2003 when she started her business. H joined his relatives in the operation of a factory in the Mainland in 1996.

9. In about 2001 or 2002 when H acquired the know-how and the clientele, he set up his own factory under a company named 江門市新會區XX木製品有限公司 (“ Wood Company ”). This business turned out to be a success and generated much funds for the parties’ acquisition of landed properties.

10. The parties’ investment in Hong Kong landed properties began in 1999. In around 2001 or 2002, the family moved to a sizeable 3-bedroom unit at about 1127 sq. ft in Hong Kong.

11. In around 2003,