The legal validity of a will requires the testator to have sufficient testamentary capacity and must not be executed under suspicious circumstances, reflecting their true intentions regarding property disposition.

Battle Over Tee Kok Cheng's Will

[1] Once upon a time, decades ago, Tee Kok Cheng (Mr Tee), had relationships with different women across borders. First came his relationship with Tan Liang Ying in Malaysia, which resulted in the birth of their daughter, Tee Kim Lan, in 1980. Although never married to Tan, Mr Tee maintained a close relationship with his daughter.

[2] As time passed, while working in Singapore, Mr Tee formed a relationship with Aw Peck Luan (Mdm Aw), resulting in two children: Rachel Tee Hui Lin (Rachel) and Tee Hui Sheng (Hui Sheng). Eventually, Mr Tee left Singapore and returned to Malaysia, where in 1987, he married Kau Peck Guat (Mdm Kau). They had two children together, though one sadly passed away in 2006.

[3] For over 30 years, Mr Tee lived with Kau in Malaysia, rarely visiting or contacting his family in Singapore. Rachel would message her father, Mr Tee, where they would fondly refer Rachel as "Meow" and her mother, Mdm Aw, as "Madam 999" and "Old Penguin". The evidence showed their communication was infrequent and often centred on financial requests. When Mr Tee was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in July 2020, he chose not to inform his Singapore family despite suggestions from others.

[4] On 6 October 2020, while hospitalised at Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Mr Tee executed a will prepared by lawyer, Tan Kok Siong (lawyer Tan). The will named his Malaysian wife, Kau, as both executor and sole beneficiary. Multiple witnesses testified that Mr Tee was conscious, lucid, and understood the contents of what he was signing. Two days later, on 8 October 2020, Mr Tee passed away.

[5] When the Singapore family discovered they had been excluded from the will, they filed legal challenges, alleging that Mr Tee lacked testamentary capacity when signing the document. A profoundly personal dispute unfolded between two families claiming the estate of the late Mr Tee. On one side, stood Mdm Aw and her daughter Rachel from Singapore; on the other, Mdm Kau from Malaysia.

[6] The Singapore family claimed he was unconscious, critically ill, and unable to make rational decisions. They also argued it was suspicious that Mr Tee would exclude them despite supposedly having a good relationship.

[7] The twist in the wind is that the medical records and witness testimonies contradicted these claims Hospital notes showed Mr Tee was awake and conscious during the will signing. Lawyer Tan and other witnesses described meaningful conversations with him that day. Even the doctors' evidence, although sometimes contradictory, generally supported the fact that Mr Tee was alert when he signed the will.

[8] Particularly telling was a WhatsApp message sent by Rachel the day after the will signing, in which she mentioned that Mr Tee had decided to stop sending money to her mother. This suggested Mr Tee had indeed communicated his intentions about his assets.

[9] The court ultimately had to determine whether Mr Tee had testamentary capacity and whether his will accurately reflected his true wishes to leave his estate to his Malaysian wife, whom he had lived with for over three decades, and whether the will was made consciously and rationally.

[10] His last will and testament ("the will") of the late Mr Tee ("the testator") was executed on 6 October 2020, two days before his passing on 8 October 2020. The will named his Malaysian wife, Mdm Kau ("the defendant"), as his estate's sole executor