Singapore legislation
Section 52
Section 52
Property of woman to be held by her as feme sole
(1)
Subject to the provisions of this Act, all property which —
immediately before 15 September 1961 was the property (including the separate property) of a married woman or held for her separate use in equity;
belongs at the time of her marriage to a woman married after 15 September 1961; or
after 15 September 1961 is acquired by or devolves upon a married woman,belongs to her in all respects as if she were a feme sole and may be disposed of accordingly.
(2)
Nothing in subsection (1) —
is to be construed as affecting adversely the right of any married woman to any property which she had immediately before 15 September 1961; or
interferes with or renders inoperative any valid restriction upon anticipation or alienation attached to the enjoyment of any property by virtue of any provision contained in any written law in force immediately before 15 September 1961, or in any instrument executed before that date.
(3)
Any instrument executed on or after 15 September 1961, insofar as it purports to attach to the enjoyment of any property by a woman any restriction upon anticipation or alienation which could not have been attached to the enjoyment of that property by a man, is void.
(4)
For the purposes of this section relating to restrictions upon anticipation or alienation —
an instrument attaching such a restriction as aforesaid, executed on or after 15 September 1961, pursuant to an obligation imposed before that date to attach such a restriction, is deemed to have been executed before that date;
a provision contained in an instrument made in exercise of a special power of appointment is deemed to be contained in that instrument only and not in the instrument by which the power was created; and
the will of any testator who dies after 15 September 1961, is (despite the actual date of the execution thereof) deemed to have been executed after that date.