WILL SHOULD BE INVALID: Madam Tam Mei Kam says her daughter Anita Mui (above), who died of cervical cancer, was under the influence of tranquillisers when she signed her will. -- PHOTO: APPLE DAILY

Her estate is now valued at HK$100 million.

Details of Mui's assets were revealed on Tuesday in a Hong Kong court hearing in which her mother Tam Mei Kam, 84, is battling to gain control of her estate.

The court heard that Mui, who died at the age of 40, made her will at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on Dec 3, 2003. She died at the hospital 27 days later of cervical cancer.

The will left two properties in Hong Kong and London to her close friend, fashion designer Eddie Lau, and up to HK$1.7 million for her four nephews and nieces' education.

Mui, who was a Buddhist, specified in the will that New Horizon Buddhist Association was to receive whatever remained in the estate.

She had also decided to set up a trust for her mother to receive HK$70,000 a month during her lifetime, counsel Albert Yau for New Horizon said at the opening of the 25-day hearing.

According to him, Mui had said her estate should not be given to her mother outright as she would squander it, reported South China Morning Post.

But Madam Tam wants the will to be declared invalid, which would entitle her to the entire estate.

She claims her daughter did not have the mental capacity to sign the will when she was under the influence of tranquillisers to treat her illness.

She also claims Mui did not have the educational background to understand the setting up of any complex trust or similar arrangements.

Yesterday, Dr Peter Teo, who was present when Mui signed the will, testified that she was lucid when she made the legal arrangement on Dec 3.

But he said Mui had difficulty speaking the day after. She was diagnosed to have hepatic encephalopathy, a brain disorder due to liver complications.