Trial to go ahead as feuding family of late Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok fail to reach settlement after two weeks of talks
- High Court on Friday hears family members fail to reach agreement, despite ‘very great efforts’ during negotiations
- Justice David Lok calls latest development ‘very unexpected’, warns cost of court proceedings will be ‘massive’
The late Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung’s feuding family will proceed with the trial to resolve their dispute over his HK$11.3 billion (US$1.45 billion) estate in an unexpected twist following two weeks of settlement talks.
The High Court on Friday heard that the family members have failed to reach an agreement, despite the “very great efforts” during negotiations.
Mr Justice David Lok Kai-hong, who had granted six adjournments to facilitate the talks, said he was “certainly disappointed” by the “very unexpected” development.
“I’m at a loss for words,” the judge said. “We have to start the trial.”
Fok married three times and had 13 children before he died of cancer at the age of 83 in 2006. All his family members and a number of companies reached a settlement over his estate in 2012.
But a rift emerged among the children from Fok’s first marriage, with Benjamin Fok Chun-yue, Nora Fok Lai-lor and Patricia Fok Lai-ping accusing their brothers, Ian Fok Chun-wan and former legislator Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, of not disclosing the details of a project in mainland China.
