Suen Toi Lee v. Yau Yee Ping
Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal
[2001] 4 H.K.C.F.A.R. 474 (2001)
- Written by Meredith Hamilton Alley, JD
Facts
In Hong Kong, men of Chinese ethnicity were permitted to take concubines as part of Chinese customary marriage, known in other jurisdictions as common-law marriage. A concubinage was established if three elements were satisfied: (1) a man intended to take a woman into his household as his concubine and publicly held her out as such; (2) the woman consented to be the man’s concubine and, if the man was married, agreed to hold a lower position than that of the man’s wife; and (3) if the man was married, his wife agreed to the concubinage. A concubine occupied a legally recognized position between that of a mistress and a wife and had the right to her consort’s financial maintenance during his life and from his estate after his death. Children born of a concubinage were the equals of children born of the marriage. A concubine had a legal claim to her consort’s estate secondary to a wife’s claim. Concubines could not testify against their consorts in criminal matters.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Millett, J.)
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