Hong Kong judge grants late tycoon’s feuding family ‘one last chance’ to settle dispute over estate out of court
- Mr Justice David Lok, who has repeatedly urged the family not to let the case go to trial, granted a third adjournment to allow negotiations to continue after hearing ‘good progress’ had been made
- However, counsel for some of the parties says there must be a deadline for completing the talks, considering one of his clients is 92 years old
The family of the late Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung has been given “one last chance” to settle their ongoing dispute over his HK$11.3 billion (US$1.45 billion) estate out of court.
Mr Justice David Lok Kai-hong on Friday granted a third adjournment to allow parties to continue their negotiations after he was told that “good progress” had been made, though he was also reminded of the tight hearing schedule ahead should efforts at reaching a settlement fail.
The High Court trial was expected to last 60 days, but parties have estimated that the hearing of evidence alone could take 72, with closing arguments expected to take up another 10.
Fok was married three times and had 13 children before he died of cancer at the age of 83 in 2006. All of his family members and a number of companies reached a settlement over his estate in 2012.
But a rift emerged among the children from Fok’s first marriage, with Benjamin Fok Chun-yue, Nora Fok Lai-lor and Patricia Fok Lai-ping accusing their brothers, Ian Fok Chun-wan and former legislator Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, of keeping them in the dark.
At the heart of the latest dispute is a single share of their late father’s dream project in Nansha, in Guangzhou, which was transferred from a subsidiary of Henry Fok Estates to the Fok Ying Tung Foundation in 1997, with a buy-back option that eventually expired in 2007, leaving the interest with the charity.
The court has heard five days of opening speeches from all parties, with Ian denying any breaches of his fiduciary duty, and the other family members from his late father’s second and third marriages urging the court not to set aside their previous settlement agreement.
At the latest hearing, Benjamin’s counsel, Clifford Smith SC, said “good progress” had been made on Thursday, with lawyers working till 11.30pm, but he added that more time was needed, as it would be hard to continue negotiations once his client, being the first witness, started testifying.
