High Court revises ruling on creditors' claim on joint bank accounts

Singapore

FOUR months after handing down a landmark judgement allowing creditors to legally seize money held in joint bank accounts under certain circumstances, the High Court ruled this month that the provisional garnishee orders it earlier granted in this case should not be executed.

The latest ruling echoes many lawyers' views in response to the earlier judgement - that it sets a high bar for invoking such orders, as it is difficult to establish a strong case that all the money in a joint account belongs solely to the debtor and not the innocent joint account holders.