{"id":982892,"date":"2026-05-25T01:38:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T01:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/982892\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T01:38:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T01:38:20","slug":"never-too-late-to-write-a-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/982892\/","title":{"rendered":"Never too late to write a will"},"content":{"rendered":"

KUALA LUMPUR: Frozen inheritance assets has reached a staggering RM90bil, with experts attributing this to a lack of estate planning among Malaysians.<\/p>\n

According to official statistics, the frozen assets include properties, shares, investments, and other capital belonging to deceased persons that cannot be distributed yet due to unresolved legal or administrative matters.<\/p>\n

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And if this does not pose a big enough headache, there is also the total in unclaimed money which stands at RM13bil.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ:<\/strong> Planning ahead will save family the stress<\/a><\/p>\n

The Accountant-General\u2019s Department listed unclaimed money to include salaries, dormant bank accounts, insurance payouts, and deposits yet to be claimed by the rightful individuals; amounts range from several ringgit up to thousands of ringgit and more.<\/p>\n

While frozen inheritance assets involve the estates of the deceased, unclaimed money can also entail living individuals.<\/p>\n

Financial Planning Association of Malaysia general manager Alice Wong said many younger professionals and middle-income earners in the country still believe that estate planning is only necessary for the wealthy or elderly.<\/p>\n

With such a mindset, many do not consider writing a will, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is, if you have assets and dependants and a wish for how things should be handled after you are gone, a will is relevant,\u201d she said in a recent interview.<\/p>\n

Wong said cultural attitudes also play a role, as many families remain uncomfortable discussing death and inheritance matters.<\/p>\n

She said many mistakenly believe that assets will automatically go to the \u201cright people\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you die without a will, your estate is distributed according to the Distribution Act for non-Muslims, which follows a fixed legal formula that may have nothing to do with what you actually want,\u201d Wong pointed out.<\/p>\n

She said another common misconception is that a will alone will allow families immediate access to assets.<\/p>\n

\"CLICKCLICK TO ENLARGE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn practice, assets are often frozen upon death, and the will still needs to go through the courts to obtain a Grant of Probate before anything can be distributed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A Grant of Probate is a court document that gives an executor \u2013 usually a trusted family member, friend or named lawyer \u2013 the authority to manage and distribute a deceased person\u2019s estate according to the will.<\/p>\n

Wong said some people also wrongly assume verbal promises or informal notes to be sufficient.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpoken instructions and casual, unwitnessed writings carry no legal weight and are one of the biggest causes of family disputes after someone passes away,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Wong advised Malaysians to start with a legally valid will, review their Employees Provi-dent Fund and insurance or takaful nominations regularly, and keep proper records of assets and liabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cEstate planning does not have to be overwhelming. Getting proper guidance early can save your family a great deal of stress and complications down the road,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lawyer Joshua Kong said a common legal problem families face when someone dies without proper estate planning is disagreements over how inherited properties should be handled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe root of the problem is that a property suddenly has multiple new legal owners after the death, and these new owners disagree on whether it should be sold, or for how much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kong said a properly considered and drafted will could potentially prevent years of legal disputes among surviving family members.<\/p>\n

\u201cA will can dictate how the deceased\u2019s properties are to be dealt with, including how it should be sold and who gets the proceeds of the sale,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

If there is no will, Kong said distribution of assets for non- Muslims will instead follow the Distribution Act, which determines how an estate is divided among surviving family members.<\/p>\n

He said disputes involving inherited properties could become increasingly complicated over time, especially when beneficiaries themselves die and their shares are transferred to the next generation of heirs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose next of kin may have different ideas on how to deal with the property, and the cycle continues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KUALA LUMPUR: Frozen inheritance assets has reached a staggering RM90bil, with experts attributing this to a lack of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":982893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3093],"tags":[130561,51,273323,5650,126551,474,159693,273324,109064,2499,273325,16,273322,15,273321],"class_list":["post-982892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-beneficiaries","tag-business","tag-distribution-act-1958","tag-estate-planning","tag-family-disputes","tag-finance","tag-frozen-assets","tag-grant-of-probate","tag-legal-complications","tag-personal-finance","tag-property-inheritance","tag-uk","tag-unclaimed-money","tag-united-kingdom","tag-writing-wills"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116632664407850136","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=982892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/982893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=982892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=982892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=982892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}