Will Writing

Testator is a person who makes a Will.

Any Malaysian had attained the age of 18 for Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak. For Sabahan, the minimum age is 21.

No, a beneficiary or his/her spouse must not be a witness in a Will. If he/she does, then he/she will lose his/her share in the Will. However, this will not affect the validity of the Will.

No, both the witnesses and the testator must sign the Will at the same time. The function of the witnesses is to confirm and verify the state of mind of the testator as being sound mind.

Under the rules of court, the court has a discretion to require the affidavit of both witnesses. If so, they are required to execute an affidavit of witness to be filed in the grant of probate application. In the circumstances that they have passed away or they cannot be located, the court may instruct for another affidavit to be filed to exhibit the death certificate of the deceased witness or the evidences that attempts has been made to contact the missing witness or any other court directions that the court deems fit.

It is advisable to write a new Will if the alterations are substantial. If it is a minor alteration – a typing error, for example, you can alter your Will and sign beside the alteration in the presence of the same witnesses. After that, the witnesses will also be required to sign beside the alteration in order for it to be effective.

A Will does not need to be stamped to be valid. Sealing a Will only serves the purpose of confidentiality.

No, once a person professes Islam, the distribution of his/her estate will be governed by Syariah Law.

Yes, you can, once you have sold off any of the assets mentioned in the Will, the respective beneficiary will receive nothing as on the date of your death, there is no such asset.

Yes, you can appoint guardians for your young children in a Will. As for payment to the guardian, special instruction can be drafted in your Will to pay them periodic payments only if they act.

When there is a minor beneficiary named in the Will, the Trustees will hold on trust till beneficiary has attained the age of 21 and a Guardian is to take care of the minor children if both parents predeceased.

Certainly, a Will will only take effect upon your death.

You can write a Will now, but put it a clause stating that your ‘contemplation of marriage’ will not revoke your Will. The name of the person whom you are marrying must also be stated in the Will.

Yes, she will. Divorce, unlike marriage, does not revoke a Will. Therefore, if you have divorced or separated, you should consider rewriting your Will.

  • You provide for your beneficiaries in the way you choose rather than letting the Law decides for you;
  • Expedite legal process;
  • No sureties are required;
  • You may appoint guardian of your choice for your infant children;
  • You exercise the right to appoint people of your choice as Executor to administer your estate and to carry out your wishes so as to safe guard the interest of those you love and care;
  • It costs less in term of legal fees and time to apply for Grant of Probate than Letters of Administration.

Yes. However, the immovable properties located in foreign country will follow the law of the particular country.

Domicile is the country in which a person is or is presumed to be permanently resident and lex situs means the law of the place where the property is situated. It is the general rule that for movables the law of the testator’s domicile applies, whereas for immovable, it is the lex situs that applies.

Yes, you can. It is because one of the characteristics of a Will is that it only takes effect upon death. As such, even though the assets do not belong to you at the time of writing your Will, they may belong to you at the time of your death, in which case you can pass them on to your beneficiaries.

A person is legally capable of holding property upon attaining the age of 18. If you want your children to inherit later, then it should be expressly stated in your Will the age which they should inherit.

It will be recognized by the Courts here if the Will was made in accordance with the manner required by the Wills Act 1959 in Malaysia.

Yes, you can. However, for check and balance, it is always advisable to appoint a guardian who does not perform the duty of a trustee.

No. You can include en ventre sa mere clause and define the expression of children which cover future children as well.

According to the law, you will not be entitled to claim from your father’s estate as you are illegitimate, but you can claim from your natural mother’s estate provided she does not have any other legitimate children.

Any amount given to your husband will not prevent him challenging your Will. It is not necessary to give anything to your husband if you do not wish to. However, you should state a reason in your Will why you exclude him and state in your Will that you are aware of leaving nothing to your husband.

No, your beneficiary in your Will will not be able to revoke your earlier nomination made in EPF account. Under the EPF regulations, a Will cannot revoke an earlier nomination. To revoke the earlier nomination, you have to use the prescribed form provided by the EPF Board. However, if you have withdrawn the approval portion of your account to invest in unit trust, this portion can be willed away.

Yes, you can mention the specific amount for donation. However, you need to name the charity that you want to benefit in your Will.

Yes, you can mention your wishes in the Will.

No. A Will will only come into effect when a person has passed on. Therefore, any wishes for treatment of terminal illness or anytime earlier will not be achieved through the Will.

Yes, you can. It can be known as ‘Maintenance Trust” for your elderly parent and your nephew. ‘Trust Fund’ can also be created for payments of education expenses, medical expenses, monthly donation etc.

Yes, it is valid as long as the Will is written in accordance with the Will Act 1959, signed and witnessed by two independent witnesses.

It is one of the vital clauses in a Will. Any assets which are not specifically mentioned in the Will will automatically fall under the residuary clause. This is to prevent partial intestacy.

No, the new assets will fall under the residuary clause and distribute accordingly. However, if you do not want the beneficiaries named in the residuary estate to benefit from these new assets, then you need to write a new Will and name your preferred beneficiary for the new assets acquired after the date of the Will.

A Will is a necessary legal document to facilitate smooth and efficient distribution of your estate to intended beneficiaries. A Trust on the hand is an estate planning arrangement to prevent the necessary assets from being frozen or falling into the distribution process under the Will or the Distribution Act 1958. They are complementary instruments and you may need both, depending on your specific purpose.

It is not advisable because the safe deposit box will be frozen when you passed on. Thus, your family members may not be able to retrieve it for application of Grant of Probate.

The Executor has to settle the loan from my estate. It is advisable to purchase a Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance (MRTA) to pay for any outstanding loan should you passed on suddenly.

No, your nominee will not. These unit trust investments will form part of your estate and not part of your EPF account. You can will this investment away in your Will.

Estate Administration & Trust

Letters of Administration is an authority given under the seal of the Court for the administration of the estate of a person who has died without a Will.

The Court order that formally authorize the Executor to administer the deceased’s estate according to the Will.

When there is a Will left behind by the deceased, the appointed Executor will apply for Grant of Probate. However when he/she dies without a Will, the chosen administrator(s) have to apply for Letters of Administration.

The estate of the deceased is frozen. The immediate family members need to apply for Letters of Administration to unlock the deceased estate before transferring to his/her family members.

Yes, provided it is proved that the original Will has been lost or accidentally destroyed.

Normally shorter than LA application, it varies from a minimum of three months to a year, depending on the size of the estate.

Continuing to manage the trust assets for the beneficiaries named in the testamentary trusts according to the instructions and powers given by Will until the end of the trust period.

  • The administration bond can be waived when the gross value of the estate does not exceed RM 50,000.00;
  • The administrator is a trust corporation;
  • The administrator is the sole beneficiary; and
  • The Court waiver – full or partial. This is at the discretion of the Court.

Yes, the consent from all members of the family is required. Any beneficiaries who are not applying to become the administrator will have to renounce his/her right to the appointed administrator.

Yes, the administrator must get two guarantors to sign the administration bond before LA can be extracted and the guarantors must have assets within the jurisdiction equivalent to the gross value of the deceased’s estate.

The role of your Trustee is to hold on trust your moneys and other assets for your minor children while your Guardian is to take care of the welfare of your minor children. Thus, it is always wise to have different persons to ensure there is counter-checking.

Join Us as a Rockwills Estate Planner

Yes! According to the statistics, it is shown that almost 90% of Malaysian adults have not written their Will. In addition, News recently reported on ‘there are RM60 billion unclaimed cash and assets left by the dead in Malaysia’. Therefore, it is through Rockwills that you get the opportunity to penetrate this huge market to build a large business.

Rockwills is the fastest growing company in the Will-writing and Estate Planning Industry. You will have a reputable company behind you as Rockwills is the market leader and No. 1 in estate planning in Malaysia.

There is no specific qualification. You are able to join us as long as you attend 4 days Will and Trust Training and pass the Examination.

It will depend on the commitment you make to this business; after all you are your own boss. If you are full-time and committed Rockwills Estate Planner, you can earn at least RM5,000.00 per month. Our top producers are earning over RM500,000.00 a year. Since the introduction of perpetual income of Estate Administration and Trust services in 2006, Rockwills Estate Planners’ income has been improving tremendously.

There is no basic pay, the income is commission based. In addition, we reward an overseas trip to all franchisees who achieve the qualification for the incentive trip.

No, you don’t have to. You only advise clients based on their objectives and get the client’s relevant information, fill up the Will-Writing Instruction Form (WWIF) and send it to Professional Will-Writing Service Centre (PSC) or Legal Department.

There are many ways to promote the estate planning services provided by you, such as through advertisements in newspapers and/or magazines, flyers distribution, participating in the exhibition, organizing public seminar/talks, social media etc.

Yes, our franchisees will receive comprehensive training programme regularly which covers the legal, trust services and marketing aspects of the business and support from our experienced staffs, our team of in-house legal advisors and our full time team leaders. We have nationwide branches and Rockwills Service centres to support our franchisees.