Tan Ooi Boon brings another court case to entertain us in his Straits Times Sunday money column. This time, a father is requesting to reduce the alimony he pays to his former wife.
I wouldn’t say that the reason to reduce is valid or invalid, but the reason may help in your own financial planning, whether you wish to retire early or not.
You can read the article here. However, since the article is behind a paywall, here are the financial details of the case:
The couple in the article are in their 60s and are divorced. After spending around S$600,000 on their two children’s overseas education, they have financial difficulties. The couple divorced around 10 years ago. As part of the divorce settlement, the father had been paying S$1,200 a month to his former wife. The father, now 65, has a young child from his second marriage to a 38-year-old woman. Their son, 33, was still studying for a doctorate in the United States earlier this year, and their daughter, 29, graduated from a London university. Due to his own household expenses, which likely included mortgage repayment, amounting to about S$7,000, the father requested to reduce his alimony payment to his former wife to S$600.3 Although the father had savings of S$500,000 in his CPF and other assets, this might not be sufficient for the long term. His current wife would need to find employment as a tutor to help cover their expenses. The former wife, now 69, is unable to work due to a spinal condition and objected to the reduction in alimony. Despite their financial constraints, as recently as 2023, the father was still sending approximately S$26,000 to his son in the US, while his current wife was contributing about S$14,000. The case