Son sues stepmother over art
The son of an avid collector of Chinese art is suing his stepmother after she turned over 75 paintings to a museum following her husband's death.
In a High Court writ filed yesterday, Kenneth Young Tin-kin claimed Nancy Lau Lan-fong had no right to the collection, and has demanded she return the pieces. He filed the writ on behalf of the estate of his late father, Yang Shen-sum.
Yang died on May 15 this year but made his last will a week earlier, naming his son as executor and trustee, the writ said.
In a previous will dated October 15, 2001, Yang had bequeathed his paintings to Ms Lau, who was listed as the second wife of Yang, and stepmother of Mr Young. At the time of his death, the 75 pieces were at Yang's residence.
The writ said that on or about June 4, Ms Lau 'wrongfully removed and carried away' the 75 pieces, 'depositing those pieces with the Heritage Museum ... as if those pieces were [Ms Lau's] own property.'
An undisclosed amount of damages is also being sought.
