Thian Wen Yi

Thian Wen Yi

Partner
Family and Divorce
T: 
+65 6361 9871
F: 
+65 6438 0550
E: 
WenyiThian@harryelias.com

Wen Yi is a Partner in our Family and Divorce Practice Group. She has acted as lead counsel in many contentious disputes over custody, care and control, access, maintenance, and division of matrimonial assets. She has acted for both local and expatriate clients and has advised on cross-border issues such as relocation, international child abduction, stay of proceedings, and conflict of laws.

Wen Yi has also helped clients negotiate out-of-court settlements and advised clients on non-contentious matters such as drafting postnuptial agreements, trust deeds, and wills.

Wen Yi was named as a Recommended practitioner in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 editions of Doyles Guide's Singapore Family and Divorce Leading Lawyers. She was also listed in the 2021 edition of Singapore’s 18 most influential lawyers aged 40 and under by Singapore Business Review.

Her notable experience includes: Acting as lead counsel in a case where her client, the mother, was granted leave to relocate with the child, with only supervised access granted to the father; acting as lead counsel in a case where the Court reversed care and control of the young children in favour of her client, the father; and acting as lead counsel in a case before the High Court where her client, the ex-wife, was awarded 100% of the matrimonial home despite the ex-husband making substantial financial contributions towards its acquisition. The High Court released a 74-page judgment clarifying various principles on the division of assets.

She also acted as lead counsel for the ex-wife in a case before the High Court, where the court ordered that the husband’s pre-marital assets, income derived from pre-marital assets, and his various dissipations be added back to the pool for division. The High Court released an 83-page judgment which set out important points of law on the determination of the pool of matrimonial assets.

Wen Yi is a member of the Singapore Association of Women Lawyers and volunteers at the legal clinics where she gives free legal advice to women who are unable to afford a lawyer. She also provides pro bono legal services for needy persons under the auspices of Law Society's Ad Hoc Pro Bono Referral Scheme and Legal Aid Bureau's panel of assigned solicitors.

Wen Yi has been invited to give talks at the Singapore Council of Women Organisations and Family Service Centres in Singapore on divorce and maintenance issues. She was also invited by the Ministry of Law to participate in a closed-door stakeholder session on the recommendations being considered by the Committee to Review and Enhance Reforms in the Family Justice System.

Wen Yi is appointed by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education as a course facilitator for the Family Law Practice module. She teaches family and matrimonial law to students seeking admission to the Singapore Bar.

Recent Awards