Taipei (The China Post/ANN) - The legal battle over the late tycoon Wang Yung-ching's inheritance is escalating quickly as family members fight to assume the legal right to become the guardian trustee of Wang Yue-lan, the legal wife of Wang Yung-ching.
Winston Wen-yang Wong, the eldest son of the late Formosa Plastics Corporation founder, acting as Wang Yue-lan's guardian trustee, is being challenged in court by Huang Bei-qi, the grandniece of Wang Yue-lan.
As the "common-law¿ wife of the late tycoon, Wang Yue-lan inherited over NT$23 billion (US$770 million). That large amount of wealth is currently under the management of Winston Wong. It has been reported that Wong has split NT$20 billion (US$750 million) between his two children while he continues to probe the NT$520 billion (US$16 billion) in foreign assets of the late senior Wang as the guardian trustee of Wang Yue-lan. The money transferred to Wong's immediate family is subject to demand of return if the court appoints a new trustee in charge of the tycoon's common-law wife.
Both parties of Wong and Huang did not appear at the court hearing yesterday. Wong's legal team questioned Huang's motives for claiming legal guardianship and asked the court to allow Wong to remain the guardian of the money.
According to Wong's legal representatives, they have asked the court to evaluate Wang Yue-lan's mental status, who they claim has healthy mental capacity, and to subpoena her caregiver and other relatives to court to testify, which they believe would boost Wong's case.
Huang, who advocates the Wang Jan-yang Charity Foundation, should be appointed Wang Yue-lan's new guardian trustee, told local media through her lawyer that Wong has violated conflict of interests, conferred a large share of the late Wang's wealth while being one of the valid heirs.
According to Huang's lawyer, Wong has never visited Wang Yue-lan in the hospice after senior Wang's death. They also claimed to have presented the court a psychological evaluation of Wang Yue-lan from Chang Gung Hospital last September proving that she has lost her mental capacity.
After paying separate visits to Wang Yue-lan, both Taipei and Taoyuan social affair bureau offices deemed her as mentally capable and expressed clearly her kin relationship with Wong.
