Two brothers failed to pay the $7.9 million purchase price of a house they bought from their grandmother before her death, a court heard yesterday.
Ivan Shum Wing-tak, a solicitor, and Michael Shum Wing-haye, a businessman, claim their grandmother promised them they would not have to pay the debt in light of the 'degree of veneration' they had shown her, the Court of First Instance was told.
This is disputed by Bermuda Trust (Hong Kong) Ltd, the executor of the grandmother's estate, which has brought court action seeking the money.
The court heard the property, Villa Dorada, in Blue Pool Road, Happy Valley, was transferred to the brothers in 1992. Their grandmother, Lee Po-lun, died in her 90s in December 1993.
Jeremy Bartlett, for the trust, disputed the brothers' claim their grandmother had agreed, in 1992, that the purchase price need not be paid.
The brothers say the fact their grandmother left them the property in her will shows she had agreed to forgo the money, the judge was told.
