Hong Kong Ordinances

MATRIMONIAL PROCEEDINGS AND PROPERTY ORDINANCE - SECT 11

Variation, discharge, etc. of orders for financial provision

(Past version on 30/06/1997).

(1) Where the court has made an order to which this section applies, then,
subject to the provisions of this section, the court shall have power to vary
or discharge the order or to suspend any provision thereof temporarily and to
revive the operation of any provision so suspended.

(2) This section applies to the following orders, that is to say-

   (a)  any order under section 3;

   (b)  any order made by virtue of section 4(1)(a) or (b) or 4 (2) (b) ;

   (c)  any order made by virtue of section 5(2)(a) or (b) or 5(4);

   (d)  any order made by virtue of section 6(1)(b), (c), (d) or (e) on or
        after granting a decree of judicial separation; (Amended 69 of 1997 s.
        33)

   (da) any order made by virtue of section 6A; and (Added 69 of 1997 s. 33)

   (e)  any order made by virtue of section 8(5), 8(6)(a), (b), (d) or

   (e)  or 8(7)(b).

(3) The powers exercisable by the court under this section in relation to an
order shall be exercisable also in relation to any instrument executed in
pursuance of the order.

(4) The court shall not exercise the powers conferred by this section in
relation to any order made by virtue of section 6(1)(b), (c),

   (d)  or (e) on or after granting a decree of judicial separation except on
        an application made in proceedings- (Amended 69 of 1997 s. 33)

   (a)  for the rescission of that decree, or

   (b)  for the dissolution of the marriage of the parties to the proceedings
        in which that decree was made.

(5) No such order as is mentioned in section 6 shall be made on an application
for the variation of an order made by virtue of section  4 (1)(a) or (b) or
section 5(2)(a) or (b), and no order for the payment of a lump sum shall be
made on an application for the variation of an order made by virtue of
section 4(1)(a) or (b) or of section 8(6)(a) or (b).

(6) Where the person liable to make payments under a secured periodical
payments order made by virtue of section 4(1)(b), section  5(2)(b) or
section 8(6)(b) or (e) has died, an application under this section relating to
that order (and to any order made under section 6A(1) which requires the
proceeds of sale of property to be used for securing those payments) may be
made by the person entitled to payments under the periodical payments order or
by the personal representatives of the deceased person, but no such
application shall, except with the permission of the court, be made after the
end of the period of six months from the date on which representation in
regard to the estate of that person is first taken out. (Amended 69 of 1997 s.
33)

(7) In exercising the powers conferred by this section the court shall have
regard to all the circumstances of the case, including any change in any of
the matters to which the court was required to have regard when making the
order to which the application relates and, where the party against whom that
order was made has died, the changed circumstances resulting from his or her
death.

(8) The personal representatives of a deceased person against whom any such
order as is referred to in subsection (6) was made shall not be liable for
having distributed any part of the estate of the deceased after the expiration
of the period of six months referred to in that subsection on the ground that
they ought to have taken into account the possibility that the court might
permit an application under this section to be made after that period by the
person entitled to payments under the order; but this subsection shall not
prejudice any power to recover any part of the estate so distributed arising
by virtue of the making of an order in pursuance of this section.

(9) In considering for the purposes of subsection (6) the question when
representation was first taken out, a grant limited to trust property shall be
left out of account and a grant limited to real estate or to personal estate
shall be left out of account unless a grant limited to the remainder of the
estate has previously been made or is made at the same time. [cf. 1970 c. 45
s. 9 U.K.]