Hong Kong's top court rules in favour of equal inheritance, housing benefits for same-sex couples

Hong Kong does not recognise same-sex marriage, prompting some couples to marry elsewhere.

Hong Kong’s top court on Tuesday upheld earlier rulings that favoured subsidised housing benefits and equal inheritance rights for same-sex married couples, in a landmark victory for the city’s LGBTQ+ community.

The Court of Final Appeal’s dismissal of the government’s appeals ended some years-long legal battles over the differential treatment facing same-sex couples married overseas under Hong Kong’s Housing Authority policies and two inheritance laws.

The decisions are expected to have a far-reaching impact on the lives of same-sex couples, who have traditionally had fewer rights compared to their heterosexual counterparts in the global financial hub.

Hong Kong does not recognise same-sex marriage, prompting some couples to marry elsewhere.

Currently, the city only recogniSes same-sex marriage for certain purposes such as taxation, civil service benefits and dependent visas. Many of the government’s concessions were won through legal challenges, and the city has seen a growing social acceptance toward same-sex marriage.

In September 2023, the top court ruled that the government should provide a framework for recognizing same-sex partnerships.

In separate judgements handed down in 2020 and 2021, a lower court had ruled that the housing policies involved in Tuesday’s cases violated the constitutional right to equality, and that excluding same-sex spouses from inheritance law benefits constituted unlawful discrimination.

The government had challenged these decisions at the Court of Appeal but subsequently lost in October 2023. It then took the cases to the top court.

The top court’s rulings concluded a long legal journey taken by Henry Li and his late partner, Edgar Ng. After they married in Britain in 2017, Ng bought a subsidized flat as his matrimonial home with Li.

The Housing Authority, however, said Li could not be added as an authorized occupant of the flat in the capacity of Ng’s family member because same-sex married partners do not fall within its definition of “spouse.” Ng was also concerned that if he died intestate, his proprieties would not be passed to Li, the court heard.

Ng died in 2020 after suffering years of depression.

After the Court of Appeal’s ruling last year, Li wrote on his Facebook that he hoped the government would respect the judgment.

“It added insult to injury— that the government repeatedly argued in open court I am not Edgar’s husband and should be treated as a stranger to him, while I was still mourning,” he wrote at that time.