Brothers’ 20-Years Feud Over $15m Of Properties Ends

Source : The Straits Times, Jan 17, 2008

FOR almost 20 years, brothers Leow Mei Loy and Chia Then have been involved in a spat over $15 million worth of real estate their businessman father left behind after his death.

On Monday, their feud came to an end when a High Court judge ordered two properties - which include a Mountbatten Road bungalow valued at $13 million - to be sold and the money split among the brothers and their four sisters.

The deal came on what would have been the opening day of a trial to decide on a bid by Chia Then, represented by lawyers from Drew & Napier, to enforce the sale, and a separate suit against him by elder brother Mei Loy, represented by lawyer Wong Yoong Phin.

The two-decade-long drama ended after a meeting between lawyers from both sides in the chambers of Justice Belinda Ang. She issued a consent order for the two properties to be sold within six months.

The deal ends a saga that began when the brothers’ father, Mr Leow Nee Chong, died in 1988 and left no will. Both brothers, who are in their 50s, handled the estate on behalf of their mother and four sisters. Their mother died in August 1993.

The suit is the third involving siblings and their inheritances to be settled in the High Court within a month.