Will Lawyers in Malaysia

Estate Administration in Malaysia

Types of Estate Planning Documents in Malaysia

• Will

• Will Trust 

• Power of Attorney

• Trust Deed

• Grant of Probate

• Letters of Administration 

• Distribution Order

• Order for Sale

• Buy-Sell Agreement

• Family Offices (Investment Holding Company) /Trust Company

Wills

Will is a piece of legal documents that records the last wishes of the death. The executor will apply to the Court for a Grant of Probate to execute your instruction as to how your assets are to be distributed in accordance with your Will.

Will trust

Will Trust is similar with Will but has a trust clause to appoint a trustee to take care of your assets on behalf of the beneficiary until the fulfill certain conditions or reach certain ages.

The element of trust is there to protect the welfare of the beneficiary such as minor. The law does not allow minor below age of 18 years old to hold property. 

Therefore, in this situation, there will be a trustee appointed to manage the affair of the minor.

Power of Attorney

Power of Attorney is used to give power to someone your trust to carry out your affair. 

For example, a father gives power to his son under the Power of Attorney to collect rent from the father's property.

The father retains the ownership of the property. 

The father is call doner, and the son is call donee.

Trust Deed

a Trust Deed is a type of legal document which allows a trustee to manage the affair of the property on behalf of the beneficiary. it is similar to a trust will.

The different is that trust will operates once the testator passed away while a trust deed operates while the testator is still living.

It is suitable for beneficiary who is below 18 years old, or the parent feels like the beneficiary needs to reach certain maturity to inherit the parent's property.

Grant of Probate

It is a must have legal document to obtain from the High Court so that the executor or beneficiary can unlock the frozen assets of the testator.

After the testator passed away, the executor will bring the will and the testator death certificate to the Court to apply for the Grant of Probate.

Letters of Administration

The Letter of administration is a legal document that needs to be applied by the closest person to the deceased if the latter passed away without a will.

We call this intestacy situation (no will). Usually the closest family member will attend to the Court to apply for this Letters of administration. 

There are many challenge to this, as the family member need to locate the personal documents of the deceased such as Income tax number, property title, sale and purchase agreement, EPF number and etc. 

So the procedure usually will be dragged up to one year. 

there is time, where family member is still grieving over the lost of their lost one, and they dragged the application for letters of administration up to few years.

Distribution Order

Distribution Order is a Court Order to present to the land office to transfer of ownership of the deceased's property to the beneficiary.

It records the property title and detail of the testator/deceased, and it is also used for the purpose to renounce property rights of the deceased.

Order for Sale

In contrast to Distribution Order, Order for sale is a Court Document whereby the beneficiary renounce their right or they let go their right to inherit the testator/deceased property. 

So the property ended up with everyone agreeing to sell and to split the proceed among all the beneficiaries.

Beneficiaries should consult their lawyer if they decide to apply for Order for Sale to sell off the deceased's property.

Buy Sell Agreement

A buy - sell agreement is a type of shareholders' agreement whereby the deceased shareholder agrees to sell its share to the surviving shareholder at an agreed price.

This prevents dispute between the deceased shareholder's family member and the surviving shareholder over the management of the company in the future.

Family Office/ Investment Holding Company

Family member can form Company to hold properties, and the distribution of the proceed from the investment income is not subjected to tax.

Do consult our professional specialist to seek for more advice on this topic.

What happens after I passed away?

1. YOUR PROPERTY & ASSETS GETS FROZEN

The deceased’s assets such as bank accounts will be frozen.

This is where the beneficiaries have problem in withdraw monies from your bank account.

Your properties cannot be transferred to your next of kin before your executor or administrator obtained a letters of administration or Grant of Probate. 

2. FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS

Most beneficiaries may not be that financially strong.

They ended up delaying the process of applying the probate order as it involves huge payment of legal costs. 

If the beneficiary has to wait for the sale of the property, it may involve the order for sale.

3. DELAYED IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS

Sometimes, the case of the deceased may differ, whereby one of the beneficiary may have passed away, and the worse is the beneficiary has no will. That particular beneficiary has to apply for a letter of administrations.

4. EMOTIONAL STRAIN

During these period where the deceased has passed away, there will be moment of grieving for the family members. Majority of the executor who may be the beneficiary may drag the matter.

5. CONTACT US NOW

Contact us now for a speedy application for the Probate Order to unfreeze your family member (deceased) assets and properties. 

Email : [email protected]

Contact: 010-2906674