Hong Kong bank sues estate of deceased man behind legal fight for same-sex rights
Hang Seng Bank takes outstanding mortgage repayment case against late Edgar Ng Hon-lam’s estate to court
A Hong Kong bank is suing the estate of a deceased man behind two court challenges against discriminatory housing and inheritance policies targeting same-sex partnerships, with the latest case involving outstanding mortgage repayments.
Hang Seng Bank applied to the High Court for the personal representatives of Edgar Ng Hon-lam’s estate to either fully repay the remainder of a mortgage granted in 2018 or vacate a Ma On Shan flat at the centre of the two judicial reviews.
The writ seen by the Post on Friday did not specify the amount owed.
Ng won his first judicial review in September 2020 on inheritance rights, which stemmed from concerns he would be unable to bequeath the flat registered under his name to his husband, Henry Li Yik-ho, due to their marriage taking place in the United Kingdom and not being recognised in Hong Kong.
The couple won a second challenge in June of the following year over Housing Authority policies barring same-sex couples from sharing the same roof in subsidised flats, such as the one Ng and Li lived in.
The rulings were both endorsed by the Court of Appeal before the authority made a final attempt to reverse them at the city’s top court, despite calls from Li and sexual minority rights observers to accept the rulings.