Publication Type

Working Paper

Version

submittedVersion

Publication Date

2011

Abstract

Is marriage an institution (of public morality) or a contract (of private ordering)? In Toh Seok Kheng, the High Court concluded that it was unable to declare a “sham marriage” void just because the motives behind the marriage seemed improper. In ADP, the High Court held that since a void marriage meant there was no marriage to begin with, the “wife” was not entitled to maintenance, and there could not have been any “matrimonial assets” to be divided, unless she had a strong “moral” claim. This piece considers how the aforementioned moral-contractual dichotomy emerges in these cases.

Discipline

Family Law | Family, Life Course, and Society

First Page

1

Last Page

10

Copyright Owner and License

Author

Additional URL

http://works.bepress.com/siyuan_chen/13/

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