A widow who is fighting claims for a share in her husband's multimillion-dollar estate told a court yesterday she was motivated by her husband's wishes and not her own desire for the holdings, which include $140 million worth of shares.
Edith De Wong Au told the Court of First Instance that her husband, Lucien Wong, had fallen out with his brother, Oscar, over the distribution of the estate of their father, Wong Tat-wing.
When Lucien Wong died of heart disease in April 1999, she did not want his brother to get half of the estate - as permitted under the law because Lucien Wong died without making a will.
The court has heard Ms Au had sought to block Oscar Wong's efforts by claiming she and Lucien had adopted her nephew, Henry Kho Sin-tek, as a 'courtesy son' in March 1968.
Under Chinese customary law, if a couple has no male heirs, they can adopt a blood relative to carry on their lineage.
But the court has also heard that Ms Au is now seeking to recant earlier sworn statements made on July 14, 1999, that she and her husband had adopted Mr Kho.