Sudden Death - What’s Next?

Recently, my friend's brother just passed away. I was shocked and sad when I got to know the news.

My friend just told us about his brother experienced heart attack during one of his badminton section. We still in discussing on who to look for, what's and where to look for treatment. When one of our family get sick, we always make sure that financially amd mentally fit to overcome the problem.

A few days later, my friend told me his brother passed away. Although I didn't know him, but I am sad to know this. Being a practitioner in financial industry, my first question is what's next? How the estate planning going to go through?

This sudden death also reminded me of the importance of will. It may be relatively low level of awareness of writing a will in Malaysia. Like many of us, we have been very busy for our day to day jobs and families, do we really listed out what do we have? What is the asset and liabilities that we have?

What happens if you die without a will?

If you die without a valid will you die “intestate”. Intestate succession takes time and costs money.

In Malaysia, The Distribution Act 1958 will determine who gets what if you are a non-Muslim and die without a will. You have no control over who gets what.

Under the Distribution Act, your property will be distributed among your family members according to a set formula, depending on who you leave behind.

• If you die with a spouse, descendants (called issue), and parents, your issue will get half of your estate, and the other half will be split equally between your spouse and your parents.
• If you die without parents, but with a spouse and issue, your spouse will receive one-third of your estate and your issue two-thirds.
• If you leave no issue, but a spouse and parents, your estate will be divided half-half.
• If you leave no spouse, but parents and issue, your issue will receive two-thirds and your parents one-third.
• If you leave only a spouse, or only issue, or only parents, they will receive the whole estate.
• If you die without a spouse, parents, or issue, your estate will go to siblings, grandparents, or uncles and aunts in equal shares. If you leave no one behind, your entire estate will go to the government.

Writing a will in Malaysia is critical to ensure that your wishes for your loved ones and your property are executed after your death.

Hope my sharing will benefited to you. Leave your thought if there is any, would love to hear from you!