An unemployed widow has entered proceedings at the High Court to sue her son against evicting her from a property she purchased 18 years ago together with her husband.
Shum Mei-sin arranged for her son, Hung Hing-lun, to acquire the property as she was ill-informed of the relevant procedures. From early 2015, the defendant and his wife asked Shum to move out from a Tsz Oi Court, a public housing estate in Wong Tai Sin district.
Shum asked the High Court to grant an order in her favour, indicating that she was the actual owner of the unit and to stop the defendant from evicting her.
She originally lived with her husband, defendant and daughter in Choi Wan Estate. The couple purchased the apartment in Tsz Oi Court for HK$1.48 million.
While the couple paid for the apartment, they were not fluent in English and were unfamiliar with purchasing procedures, so they asked the defendant to manage the property as a trustee. However, Shum emphasised that any decisions made regarding the property could only be made with the unanimous agreement of all family members, as Shum’s husband did not want to give a false impression of “buying the flat” for the defendant.
Shum has been living alone in a property in Tsz Wan Shan following her husband’s death and her children’s marriages. The defendant now lives in a luxury apartment at One Beacon Hill, after moving out of Tsz Oi Court in 2007.
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Hung said that she is extremely disappointed by the defendant and his wife’s actions. They have continuously asked her to move out of the apartment.
She emphasised she was the true owner of the unit, as she and her husband were responsible for familial expenses while her children resided with her.
