The protagonist of this strange story, whose name has not been revealed by the media, married in 1950 and had three sons with his wife. In 1971, he started having an affair with his secretary and even fathered another child with her. His wife reportedly knew about his mistress, but remained by his side until her death in 2014. Two years later, the man brought his mistress to live with him, but conflict with his family reached a boiling point in 2021, when he announced plans to marry the woman.
Upon hearing the news that his elderly father planned to remarry, his second son filed a petition with a family court, requesting that his father be declared legally incapacitated. He alleged that as a result of a fall in 2017, his father had developed dementia, was no longer capable of making decisions, and was being manipulated by his lover.
The elderly man, who owns a chemical company established in the 1960s, amended his will to exclude his second son and his grandson, and filed a counter lawsuit demanding the return of 3.8 million SGD ($2.98 million) and company assets. He also tried to have his grandson evicted from his home in retaliation for the lawsuit.
Medical evidence showed that the elderly man exhibited mild cognitive decline and short-term memory loss due to age, but remained fully capable of making decisions regarding marriage and property. Audio recordings showed that he was lucid and fully aware of his actions.
Judge Shobha Nair also pointed out that despite his claims about the 97-year-old man’s dementia, his son still approved his father’s appointment as the company’s CEO in 2019, two years after suffering the fall that allegedly rendered him incapacitated.
The Court rejected the second son’s lawsuit, adding that the 97-year-old had been involved with the same woman for 50 years, and there was no evidence to suggest that the woman deceived or exploited him to seize his assets.
The man’s second son has already filed an appeal, so the 97-year-old man will still have to wait a while to marry again.
