Sang v Choy

Sang v Choy involved a family provision application brought by the plaintiff, Sang, against the defendant, Choy. The dispute arose from the death of Sang's father, who owned a property jointly with Choy. Upon the father's death, the property passed to Choy by survivorship, as they held the property as joint tenants. Sang sought an order for family provision from the property, arguing it should be considered part of his father's estate.

The legal issues before the court included whether there was an agreement to sever the joint tenancy prior to the father's death, whether the property could be considered part of the father's notional estate, and if Sang was entitled to a provision from the property. The court had to determine the validity of any alleged agreement to sever the joint tenancy and whether the property was intended to be part of the father's estate for the purposes of family provision.

The court found that there was indeed an agreement to sever the joint tenancy, evidenced by a transfer document executed by the father and Choy. However, the transfer was not formally registered, which left the property still held as joint tenants at the time of the father's death. The court concluded that the property formed part of the father's notional estate as it was intended to be dealt with in accordance with the agreement. Given the circumstances and the family provision legislation, the court ordered that Sang receive a legacy of $100,000.00 from the property.