The live-in girlfriend of the late owner of the celebrated teahouse Lin Heung Lau is suing his six children from two other relationships over his HK$100 million fortune.
The legal battle stems from a will executed by the late Yien Chi-ren in the presence of two lawyers in 2003. But Han Yi, Yien's girlfriend of 24 years, and his six children only have photocopies of it. The original will could not be found.
Yien died in 2008, at 88. Under the will, Han is entitled to 25 per cent of his estate, with the remaining shares going to three of his six children. But if the court finds that the will has been revoked, the estate will be divided equally among the six children.
It is not the first time the estate has been in the headlines. In 2009, a court struck down a claim by Yien's daughter Ngan Shun-wah - who was acting as administrator of her father's estate - against her cousin Ngan Chuen-fai.
The daughter had alleged the cousin was running a copycat restaurant called Lin Heung Kui. Both restaurants were in Sheung Wan.
Ngan and Yien are different romanised spellings of the same family name.
In the Court of First Instance, Han, who is 37 years younger than the late Yien, testified that the latter had expressed concerns about her welfare in the event of his own death.