Withers LLP

Divorce and family

Partner, Divorce and family

Ivan is a Family Law specialist with extensive experience in all areas of family law including contentious divorces, disputes over child custody, relocation of children, maintenance, division of matrimonial assets and family violence in the Family Justice Court (FJC) and Court of Appeal.

He has been listed in the Doyles Guide for Leading Family & Divorce lawyers in Singapore since 2017 and is identified as a Leading lawyer in the same guide in 2019 and 2020. He has been named by the Singapore Business Review as one of Singapore’s Top 20 ‘Most In8uential Lawyers aged 40 and under in 2018’ and is also identified as Future Star in the Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific 2020.

Ivan is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, membership of which is exclusive to family lawyers with extensive experience in international disputes relating to maintenance, division of assets and children’s issues. He has represented clients in reported landmark judgments and has advised and acted for clients as lead counsel in matters involving division of matrimonial assets for high-net-worth individuals, international relocation and abduction of children as well as Mareva Injunctions to prevent dissipation of matrimonial assets.

Ivan also frequently advises and represents clients in the drafting of relevant Prenuptial and Postnuptial Deeds, recognising all too well that in cases where parties have signi2cant pre-marital assets, an agreement as to how such assets are to be divided in the event of a divorce sets the framework for trust and understanding for a successful marriage.

A firm believer in the benefits of alternative dispute resolution as a means of resolving clients’ concerns and matters, Ivan is an accredited Family Mediator on the Singapore Mediation Center’s (SMC) Family Panel, a panel of family mediators accredited by the Family Justice Courts and SMC. He frequently represents his clients as a mediation advocate in both the FJC and SMC. Additionally, Ivan has also been appointed as a mediator to mediate family and matrimonial disputes at the SMC. Ivan is also on the Law Society of Singapore’s Panel of Mediators for the Law Society Mediation Scheme.

Ivan is a member of the Law Society of Singapore’s Family Law Practice Committee, and is also an Organizing Committee member for the Family Conference for three years since 2018 which is organised by the Law Society and supported by the Ministry of Law and FJC where he also spoke. He has been invited by various organisations both local and international to give talks on family matters.

Ivan has also been interviewed on radio and the national newspapers on matrimonial practice and the law as well as international media in relation to a contested adoption application by single homosexual father involving surrogacy that eventually succeeded on appeal in a landmark decision

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Member, Singapore Academy of Law Member, Law Society of Singapore Fellow, International Academy of Family Lawyers. Accredited Family Mediator (Family Panel) and Associate Mediator, Singapore Mediation Centre Associate Mediator, Law Society Mediation Scheme

National University of Singapore LLB, Hons