Therapeutic Justice

Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on 30 December 2020, the Family Justice Courts (FJC) and the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) collaborated to form a Panel of Financial Experts (POFE). Made up of ISCA members, the POFE was set up to provide neutral valuation reports on matrimonial assets under Family Court proceedings. This scheme was launched in the first quarter of 2021 with a pilot project based on 6 selected cases.

The POFE scheme aims to promote resolution amongst parties in a non-adversarial manner and save costs for all involved, so that parties can find a financially sustainable way forward. Such neutral valuation reports are intended to facilitate and enable a more amicable resolution of matrimonial issues, as part of the FJC’s continuing efforts to deliver therapeutic justice in matrimonial matters.

The purpose of the POFE scheme was highlighted in VZD v VZE [2022] SGFC 1. In this case, the Family Court noted that the financial expert would assist the Court and the parties by providing an equitable and objective valuation of the matrimonial assets under contest, thereby allowing justice to be administered more effectively and efficiently.

The POFE scheme underwent review and further improvement in December 2021. Subsequently, it was relaunched as POFE 2.0 in conjunction with the Family Justice Practice Forum on 15 September 2022. The revised POFE scheme (POFE 2.0) expands the FJC’s engagement with ISCA, and provides a greater range of expertise by increasing the number of experts on the panel. POFE 2.0 also includes a new fast-track process to cover straightforward valuation cases, which will reduce the costs to parties and the time needed to produce valuation reports.