Goh Tong’s daughter was lucid when she signed will, says lawyer

 Low Beng Choo disputes claims that Lim Siew Kim, who was being treated for ovarian cancer at the time, did not understand her actions.

Sisters Chan T’shiao Li and Kimberly Chan are challenging their late mother’s capacity to execute her will, alleging suspicious circumstances surrounding its preparation.

PETALING JAYA:

The High Court hearing the Genting Group family’s will dispute was told today that one of the contested wills was signed at a private hospital while Lim Siew Kim, the late daughter of Genting founder Lim Goh Tong, was undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer.

Low Beng Choo, 68, the lawyer who prepared two wills for Siew Kim’s estate, said one of the wills was signed on April 11, 2022, Bernama reported.

Low denied suggestions that Siew Kim’s physical and mental condition at the time of executing the second will had impaired her capacity to understand the nature and extent of the assets she was disposing of.

Low, the sole remaining trustee of the Dikim Foundation and main beneficiary of Siew Kim’s estate – valued at an alleged RM1 billion – was testifying under cross-examination by lawyer V Sithambaram, counsel for two of Siew Kim’s daughters, Chan T’shiao Li and Kimberly Chan.

The sisters filed the suit in 2023 against four defendants, including Low and their brother Marcus Chan, challenging their late mother’s mental capacity to execute the will and alleging suspicious circumstances surrounding its preparation.

Low, the fourth defendant, had drafted and witnessed Siew Kim’s wills dated April 11 and 28, 2022, and also acted as a witness to her earlier will dated Nov 2, 2021.

Sithambaram asked Low whether she knew the deceased was being treated for ovarian cancer, fluid in her lungs causing breathlessness, and other medical conditions when she was called to Prince Court Medical Centre on April 11, 2022.

“I do not know fully,” Low responded.

Sithambaram: “Given the physical and mental condition of the deceased, at the time the second will was allegedly executed, the deceased was in fact not in a position to understand the extent of what she was executing.”

Low: “I totally disagree.”

The counsel further submitted that Siew Kim had not been assessed as mentally fit by any medical practitioner, including a psychiatrist or neurologist, before executing the second will.

Low again disagreed, telling the court that a doctor had witnessed the signing of the will, as it was her usual practice to request a doctor’s presence during hospital-based will executions.

Siew Kim, the third child of the Genting Group founder, succumbed to cancer in July 2022 at the age of 73. She is survived by three daughters and one son.

The hearing before Justice Mahazan Mat Taib resumes tomorrow. - FMT