Statistics on Divorcees Who Failed to Comply with Court Orders to Sell Their Matrimonial Flats Within Stipulated Time

2 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Law for each year in the past five years (a) what is the absolute number and the percentage of divorcees who failed to comply with court orders to sell their matrimonial flats within the stipulated time; and (b) what was the average and median time it took beyond the stipulated time to sell the flat.

Mr K Shanmugam: We have checked, and have been informed that the time taken to complete the sale of such matrimonial flats, upon divorce, and whether there was compliance with time limits set in Court Orders is not tracked by any agency. The terms of the Court Orders, and whether any extension of time is needed by the parties, is a matter between the parties, unless the parties inform the Housing and Development Board (HDB) of the same.

Parties may apply to Court for an extension of time to sell the flat. Parties can sell their HDB flat as long as they are able to reach an agreement in doing so, and HDB will process the sale accordingly. It also depends on the terms of the Court Orders.