RE LO MAN HONG

RE LO MAN HONG

Arrears of periodic maintenance pending suit are not provable in bankruptcy because they are subject to the family court's discretionary variation and are incapable of reliable valuation; however such arrears may nonetheless constitute a petitionable debt for the purposes of presenting a creditor's petition as they are a pre-ascertained liquidated obligation, but the court will not normally make a bankruptcy order on a petition founded on a non-provable debt and will reserve making an order to wholly exceptional circumstances not present here; accordingly the petition was dismissed.

Citation
RE LO MAN HONG
Parties
Petitioner: Lam Yue Christie (林宇); Debtor: Lo Man Hong (盧文康); Official Receiver: Official Receiver
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
26 August 2013
Case Number
HCB625/2013
Procedural Posture
Bankruptcy Petition / Decision on Petition
Outcome
petition dismissed
Legal Topics
Provable Debt, Petitionable Debt, Maintenance Pending Suit, Discretion to Make Bankruptcy Order
Source Language
EN
Bankruptcy Law Family Law Matrimonial Proceedings Provable Debt Petitionable Debt Maintenance Pending Suit Discretion to Make Bankruptcy Order

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 4 Authorities cited 17 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 3
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Lam Yue Christie (林宇)

Petitioner

Lo Man Hong (盧文康)

Debtor

Official Receiver

Official Receiver

Procedural Posture

Bankruptcy Petition / Decision on Petition

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether arrears of periodic maintenance pending suit are provable in bankruptcy
  2. 2 Whether such arrears can found a bankruptcy petition and whether the court should make a bankruptcy order based on such arrears

Ratio Decidendi

Arrears of periodic maintenance pending suit are not provable in bankruptcy because they are subject to the family court's discretionary variation and are incapable of reliable valuation; however such arrears may nonetheless constitute a petitionable debt for the purposes of presenting a creditor's petition as they are a pre-ascertained liquidated obligation, but the court will not normally make a bankruptcy order on a petition founded on a non-provable debt and will reserve making an order to wholly exceptional circumstances not present here; accordingly the petition was dismissed.

Court Disposition

petition dismissed

Orders

  • Petition dismissed
  • Petitioner to pay Official Receiver's costs assessed at HK$11,425