Hong Kong court voids HK$2.9 billion will of late tycoon Lim Por-yen

A Hong Kong court has invalidated a 2004 will by late tycoon Lim Por-yen, ruling his third wife and children are also entitled to inherit part of his HK$2.9 billion (US$373.68 million) estate.

The High Court on Friday found there were “highly suspicious circumstances” surrounding Lim’s execution of the December 2004 will, in which he purportedly bequeathed most of his assets to the wives and children from his first two marriages.

The court held that Lim could not have had the mental capacity required to make a new will revoking one he proclaimed to be his last in 1973.

The court ruled in favour of art dealer Pearl Ling Meng-chu, also known as Pearl Lam, and her mother Koo Siu-ying, who were excluded from the list of beneficiaries in the 2004 document.

Lim’s lawyers initiated the probate lawsuit in 2011 after Koo and Lam each entered a caveat registering their interests in the tycoon’s estate.