GSP165
The Law and You
Tutor-Marked Assignment 02

TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT 02
This tutor-marked assignment is worth 40% of the final mark for GSP165 The Law and You.
The cut-off date for this assignment is 2359 hours on 12 March 2015.
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Submit your solution document in the form of a single MS Word file through MyUnisim Blackboard on or before the cut-off date shown above.
Additional instructions:
1. You will need to indicate clearly on the front page your name, student ID, course title and assignment number.
2. You must document all information that you use from another source, or you will be penalised severely. If you copy from the work of another student, regardless of the course or programme, you will be severely penalised. You are required to submit this assignment within the stipulated cut-off date. You are not permitted to re-use material from past assignments whether in part or in full. All of the above actions can result in your failing the TMA.
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Scope
This TMA tests your ability to:
– Identify and explain the sole ground for divorce.
– List and explain the facts in support of a divorce that are recognised at law.
– State the pre-condition that applies to a party who wishes to file Writ for Divorce in the
early days of a valid marriage.
– Identify the issues that arise as consequences of the dissolution of a marriage, commonly
termed ‘ancillary matters’.
– Understand and explain the process that is set in motion when a person passes away.
– Identify the beneficiaries that the law recognises in the event that a person dies without
having made a Will.
– Identify the order of priority of beneficiaries of the estate of the person who died intestate
– Understand the responsibilities of a person who assumes the role of the administrator of
the estate of a deceased person who died intestate
In addition to lecture slides and notes provided in this course, you may wish to go through cited textbook extracts referred to in the Study Guide for more in-depth understanding of the topics covered in this assignment.
Read the following facts stated carefully, and answer all the questions below:-
GSP165 Tutor-Marked Assignment
SIM UNIVERSITY Tutor-Marked Assignment – Page 3 of 4
Professor Kingsfield, 53, and his wife, Angela, 50, had no children of their own. Professor Kingsfield was well-liked by all his students in his university.
The two of them were a loving couple. Angela and Kingsfield owned a house, a good quality bungalow, as joint-tenants. It was a beautiful house that they lived in for many years. Since they had no children, they invited Kingsfield’s aged mother (his only surviving parent) to live with them. Angela took very good care of her mother-in-law. Kingsfield’s only sibling, his brother, Arthur, visits their mother at Kingsfield’s house often.
Angela’s only surviving immediate family member was her sister, Dorothy. Her parents passed away long ago. Her brother, Ken, also passed away in 2010, leaving behind two daughters, Kate and Paula, who were very fond of Angela. Angela’s nieces, Kate & Paula, often stayed over in Angela’s house during school vacations.
Kingsfield owned other assets, such as his BMW X5 car, three (3) sole bank accounts and an antique collection worth $2 million.
Angela, too, had her own assets, such as her Mazda 6 car, two (2) sole bank accounts and lots of jewellery of gold and precious stones.
Unfortunately, since 2011, Kingsfield and Angela started having frequent quarrels. They separated from each other when Kingsfield moved out of the house and stayed with a friend. 4½ years later, Angela applied for divorce. Kingsfield said that, although he did not contact her in the past 4½ years, he still loved her, and would prefer not to consent to her application for divorce. The Court was going to hear the case on 15 May 2015.
On 5 February 2015, Kingsfield and Angela were on their way to visit Angela’s dying grandmother in the USA. They agreed not to tell her grandmother that they were separated. Unfortunately, the plane that they were travelling in crashed. When the search and rescue team arrived at the scene, they were both found dead.
Neither of them had made a Will.
The family was in total shock and disbelief. After the funeral matters were settled, the family members had to attend to the estate matters of Kingsfield and Angela.
Applying your understanding of the family law and the laws of succession in Singapore, please examine:-
Question 1
Examine the status of the marriage between Kingsfield and Angela at the date of their deaths. (50 – 80 words)
Question 2
Kingsfield wished to oppose Angela’s application for divorce, i.e., he did not want to consent to the divorce. If the case had been heard by the Court, please cite the laws that would have applied to their divorce proceedings, i.e., what grounds and/or reasons could Angela have given for her application. Also state whether or not, in your opinion, Kingsfield could have
GSP165 Tutor-Marked Assignment
SIM UNIVERSITY Tutor-Marked Assignment – Page 4 of 4
successfully opposed her divorce application, since he stated that he still loved Angela. (100 – 150 words)
Question 3
Examine the status of each of the family members of the dead couple mentioned above, and state whether he or she would be a beneficiary of the estate of Kingsfield or Angela.
a) You may wish to identify each of the assets of the deceased persons, and apply the relevant laws to trace the beneficiaries.
b) Please cite any laws or presumptions at law that you apply in arriving at your conclusions.
c) Please address all the relatives mentioned in the set of facts above, and the proportions, if any, that each one would inherit. (600 – 800 words)
Guidance Notes
1. Submit your assignment in the form of a single MS Word file on or before the cut-off date shown above.
2. Please use one of the following fonts:
(a) Palatino Linotype
(b) Arial
(c) Calibri
3. Font size must be 12.
4. The document must be in double-spaced lines.
5. The best answers to this TMA will be the ones that offer original, thoughtful ideas and arguments.
6. You must use proper referencing and citation formats, where necessary.
7. Remember to use accurate grammar, correct sentence structures and a tone appropriate to academic writing.

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