CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND (Division of matrimonial assets)

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CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND:

(Division of matrimonial assets) * 15. *Dr John Chen Seow Phun asked the Minister for Manpower whether he will review the Central Provident Fund (CPF) regulations to allow the transfer of CPF money from the husband's account to that of the wife in divorce cases where the Court has ruled that the matrimonial

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assets be shared between the husband and wife.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: Mr Speaker, Dr John Chen has asked whether we could review the CPF regulations to allow the transfer of CPF monies from the husband's account to that of the wife in divorce cases, where the Court has ruled that matrimonial assets be shared between the husband and wife.

Let me first say that the CPF monies saved by a couple during marriage do form part of matrimonial assets. This was affirmed in the landmark case of the Central Provident Fund Board v Lau Eng Mui in 1995. However, there is currently no provision in the CPF Act to enable the affected spouse - this is not gender biased, it is either spouse - to withdraw the amount to which he or she is entitled under the court order, or for the amount to be transferred to his or her CPF account. Neither can the Court authorise or direct the CPF Board to do so, because under the CPF Act, withdrawal of CPF savings can only be allowed upon application by the member himself, and a member can only withdraw his or her CPF savings if certain events specified under section 15 of the Act occur, primarily when the member turns 55 years old. A charge placed by a court order is not one of the specified events.

Where the Court has imposed a charge on one spouse's CPF savings, what CPF Board would do is that it would reserve the spouse's entitlement under the charge, until the member turns 55. When the member turns 55, the CPF Board would first set aside the amounts as prescribed by the prevailing CPF Minimum Sum and Medisave Minimum Sum rules. The ex-spouse would get his or her entitlement from the balance that the member is allowed to withdraw.

The current principles are based on the objective of ensuring that each individual

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member's retirement needs are met first. Nonetheless, I agree with Dr John Chen that in divorce cases, we should also take into consideration the retirement adequacy of the ex-spouse. I have thus asked the CPF Board to review whether these retirement needs of the ex-spouse could be taken into account when applying the CPF withdrawal rules.