Dr Anamah Tan PPA(G); PBM, BBM, Solemniser

Accredited Mediator (Singapore Mediation Centre)

Appointed Child Representative (Family Justice Courts)

Member, International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL)

Founding Member & Executive Committee Member, Singapore Association of Women Lawyers (SAWL)

Founding Member & Past President, Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO)

Elected Member, United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

Advisor & Past President, ASEAN Confederation of Women’s Organisations (ACWO)

Past President, International Council of Women (ICW-CIF)

Dr. Tan is a women’s rights activist, an advocate for gender issues, a renowned family lawyer and a skilled negotiator. She has more than 30 years of extensive experience in advancing the rights and status of women in Singapore and internationally.

Dr. Tan first started working as an Estates Officer with the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) – which in 1960 evolved into the Housing and Development Board (HDB). In the 1970s, she entered private practice to become a Partner in Laycock & Ong, one of Singapore’s oldest legal firms. She later went to the UK to get her Solicitors’ qualification to gain experience in international financial instruments and then set up her own practice which she still operates to this day.

Dr. Tan was one of the key persons who made representations to the Select Committee, on behalf of the SCWO and the Council of the Law Society, on the amendments to the Women’s Charter in 1996 – Singapore’s primary family law statute and its own unique legislation to protect the rights of women, especially in marriage and family matters. In 1999, Dr Tan also set up “Star Shelter” under SCWO to provide a safe temporary refuge for women and their children who are victims of family violence.

Dr. Tan has been an advocate and solicitor of Singapore since 1963 and specialises in family law, and had been in several law firms prior to establishing her own law firm. She is also a solicitor in the United Kingdom.

M/s Ann Tan & Associates is able to assist you in all aspects of family law: divorce, custody matters, maintenance, protection orders, trusts, probate and wills. The firm has been awarded the Best Family Law Practice in 2001 and 2003; and in June 2016, the Women’s Rights Law Firm of the Year in Singapore.

Some of Dr. Tan’s notable cases can be seen below:

1. Lee Nellie v Wong Lai Kay [1990] 1 SLR(R) 215; [1990] SGHC 17 – successfully obtained an order for her Client to have a property, previously transferred to her son to hold on trust, transferred back to her. The son had argued that the transfer was a “gift”.
2. Vettath v Vettath [1991] 2 SLR(R) 685; [1991] SGCA 38 – successfully resisted an application for extension of time to file a Notice of Appeal out of time.
3. Yasufumi Shinozaki v Christina Kelly Wisley [1991] SGHC 63 – successfully resisted the father’s application, and obtained her Client sole custody and care and control of the children, and maintenance for her Client as well as the children. This was a reversal of an ex parte order obtained by the father which would have required her Client to deliver the children to the father’s custody.
4. Chee Bong Yeo v Teo Soon Hoe and Another [1998] SGHC 191 – her Client was awarded 40% in the division of the matrimonial assets in divorce proceedings. The matrimonial assets included a property which a third party claimed to have a beneficial ownership of. Successfully defended and protected her Client’s Court-awarded 40% share.
5. Thomas Hugh Godfrey v Tan Chit Neo Alice [1999] 3 SLR(R) 571; [1999] SGHC 264 – successfully protected her Client’s Court-awarded share of the matrimonial home and resisted the Husband’s appeal against a lower Court’s decision pertaining to the same. The Husband had sought an equal division in the matrimonial home instead of the originally ordered 30%.
6. Lee Liok Ching v Teo Poh Jin Kim [2003] SGDC 52 – successfully resisted a claim for child maintenance by the mother. Her Client had previously paid a lump sum of S$205,000.00 as maintenance for the child.
7. ANX v ANY [2014] 1 SLR 728; [2014] SGHC 248 – successfully resisted the husband’s argument that a deed of separation drafted by his lawyers should not be upheld in the divorce proceedings.
8. UTY v UTZ [2019] SGFC 32 – successfully obtained an order for her Client for the enforcement of maintenance (for the wife and the children) under a divorce order which had been place since 2004. The Husband had gone incommunicado, and had repeatedly evaded the payment of maintenance over the course of 15 years. During the 15 years, Dr. Tan also successfully obtained several orders including the transfer of the Husband’s CPF monies to her Client’s CPF account to set off the monies due to her Client under the divorce order.
9. UYP v UYP [2019] SGHCF 16 – successfully obtained an order for the division (of the matrimonial assets) of 60% in her Client’s favour. The Husband had argued that an equal division should be ordered in light of the fact that the marriage was a long, dual income one.