Will

1. Lacking of a Will after one’s departure will create much problem.
2. The distribution of property of the deceased will not be as what the deceased wishes. Without a Will, the person is deemed died intestate and all the properties will be distributed according to the Distribution Act 1958.

The application to the High Court for the distribution of the properties of the deceased will be by way of a Letter of Administration instead of a Probate. In an application for a Letter of Administration, the process is much tedious as all the beneficiaries will have to agree in appointing administrators (maximum of 4 persons), which sometimes may be difficult. Otherwise in the case where there is a Will, the executor(s) would have been appointed by the testator and there will be no space of disagreement. In addition, there will have to be an administration bond in the prescribed form by the grantee of the Letter of Administration and two sureties as security for the due administration of the estate. The amount of the bond is to be decided by the Court. This all will be time consuming and cumbersome.

Characteristics of a Will

1. In Writing – all Will must be in writing (of course ‘in writing’ also allows the Will to be typed out!)
2. Appointing of Executor(s) or Executrix(s) – the testator may appoint up to 4 executors. A beneficiary of the Will can also be the executor. The executor(s) is the person who is to distribute the estate of the testator according to the Will and therefore it is better to appoint someone that you can trust!  If there is a minor or a life interest involved in the Will, there has to be at least 2 executors.
3. Effective Only Upon Death of Testator – beneficial and legal ownership of the properties involved in the Will shall and will remain with the testator until his death.
4. Mode of Distributions – the testator will have to list out clearly the mode of distribution as to what is to be given to who.
5. Witness – there has to be two witnesses present when the testator sign the Will and the witnesses will have to attest that they are present at the time the testator sign the Will and sign at the bottom of the Will after the signature of the testator. The witnesses need not know the contents of the Will. The important thing is that the witnesses cannot be a beneficiary of the Will.

A Will is Revocable

A Will is revoked under these circumstances:-

• A Will which is dated later is made. The Will of the later date shall automatically supersede the earlier Will.
• A single person made a Will and he/she marries after the Will is made. In such situation, the Will shall remain valid provided the testator made the Will in contemplation of his/her future marriage and the future spouse is identified in the Will. Also, it must be stated clearly that the Will shall remain in force after the marriage.
• Conversion into a Muslim will also invalidate the Will as the distribution will then be governed by Syariah Law.
• Destructed. Of course there will be no will after destruction and hence revoked!

Requirement of Making A Valid Will

In addition to what is stated above in Characteristic of A Will, for a Will to be valid, it has to have met the following requirement:

1.  Testator must be of the age 18 and above and therefore in full capacity to make a valid Will in law.
2. Testator must be sane (meaning not crazy!).