Case Update: High Court Grants Rare Application for Grant Pendente Lite

By Darryl Lau and Sara Ng

We are pleased to share our client's success in his application for the appointment of an Interim Administrator, by our Managing Director Lee Ee Yang, Associate Director Sara Ng and Associate Darryl Lau, and our successful partnership with colleagues from Rajah & Tann.

After his late mother's passing, our client sought to tie up the remaining loose ends in her Estate. Regretfully, our client has been unable to do so, and to date, his mother's Estate remains unadministered. Since his initial application for a grant of Letters of Administration, our client has been embroiled in legal proceedings commenced against him by his own relatives. Understandably, with no end to the legal proceedings in sight, our client feared the worst for his mother's Estate.

We, therefore, advised our client to apply for a grant of administration pending determination of a probate claim, known as a grant pendente lite in law. Such grants are made pursuant to Section 20 of the Probate and Administration Act 1934 and empower a Court-appointed administrator to manage the disputed Estate while the legal proceedings remain ongoing.

The appointment of an Interim Administrator is an interim measure intended to preserve the status quo of the Estate for the benefit of its beneficiaries. To this end, we are glad that the Honourable Justice Choo Han Teck appreciated the prudence, fairness and reasonableness of our client's proposed appointment of one.

We are grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside our colleagues at Rajah & Tann in this rare application for a grant pendente lite. Gregory Vijayendran SC's and Tomoyuki Ban's insight and skill played an invaluable role in securing this victory for our client.

Read the full reported decision here: XBW v XBX and another [2024] SGHCF 30