The mother of late pop singer Anita Mui lost her legal battle over the estate of her daughter after the High Court decided to uphold a will made by Mui weeks before she passed away.

Tam Mei-kam, 84, has vowed to appeal the ruling, so as to save her daughter's estate from being carved up by outsiders.

"It would be fine if Mui had given all of her estate to the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. But now her estate is being eaten up by people outside the family. I will fight on," she said after learning of the judgment.

Tam started the legal battle shortly after Mui died of cervical cancer on December 30, 2003 as she and her sons did not accept the validity of the will signed on December 3, 2003.

The will stipulated that Mui's entire estate will be used to set up a trust known as Karen Trust.

Under the trust, a sum of HK$1.7 million will be set aside for Mui's nephews' and nieces' tertiary education. Two properties in Happy Valley and London will be given to Mui's fashion designer Eddie Lau. The New Horizon Buddhist Association Limited will receive what is left of the estate.

Tam is entitled to a monthly allowance of HK$70,000.

Tam, who was kept in the dark of the will, argued that Mui was not fit to make the will in terms of her mental status.

A neurologist she commissioned, Edmund Woo, told the court that Mui was suffering from stage one to two hepatic encephalopathy (HE), meaning her brain functions were compromised.

However, Justice Andrew Cheung ruled that testimonies provided by three key witnesses - Mui's godmother Sheila Ho, HKBC's former private trustee director Doris Lau and Mui's doctor Peter Teo - who witnessed Mui signing the will and testified that she was mentally capable, are credible and reliable.

"Even if she was suffering from some form of sub-clinical HE, her condition did not affect her to such an extent that she lacked mental capacity to execute the will or legal documents," he ruled.

Justice Cheung also ruled that the content of the will was consistent with Mui's previously expressed wishes when her mental condition was not in doubt.

(China Daily 06/17/2008 page1)