Michael Tringham reports on the story behind a HK$10m intestacy
The Hong Kong justice system has, King Solomon-like, decided between two mothers claiming the same son. At stake: the HK$10 million (£1m) intestate estate of 51-year old Hong Kong GP and childless widower Dr Tsang, who died suddenly of heart disease in 2001 without a will.
Two women, both in their 70s, claimed to be the deceased’s mother in a bitter five-year drama fought from Hong Kong’s High Court to the Final Court of Appeal. Final victory went to Dr Tsang’s natural mother, Mdm L F Leung—or rather, her estate, the lady having died between the High Court and Final Appeal Court hearings. She had borne him during her 1947-1958 marriage to Mr Tsang Senior.
Her adversary, Mdm S Y Ho, asserted her claim as Dr Tsang’s legal mother. A former schoolmate of Mr Tsang Senior, she became his “official” concubine in 1952, a union solemnised under Chinese customary law by kowtowing and tea ceremonies—to which, Mdm Ho told the High Court, Mdm Leung had consented. Mr Tsang Senior and the two ladies all
