Unresolved inheritance, properties worth RM42b frozen

PETALING JAYA: Properties worth RM42 billion have been frozen from about one million unresolved inheritance cases due to the absence of written wills.

Amanah Raya Bhd (ARB), a premier government-owned trustee company which provides corporate trusteeship services, legacy management, trust accounts and will management, has found that only two per cent of Malaysian have written wills.

Its chief marketing officer, Ahmad Saruji Abdul Aziz, said when people had made a will, all information on their assets would be recorded to facilitate distribution to the beneficiaries later on.

To culturalise writing of wills in society, ARB in collaboration with Islamic property inheritance management company, Warisan Mukmin Sdn Bhd, has launched a will-writing campaign called Will-Writing Year 2011.

"We don't want the problem to mount. This nationwide year-long campaign is aimed at creating public awareness on the importance of writing a will to avoid other problems later on, especially freeze on property and family disputes or break-ups," he told reporters after launching the campaign here Wednesday.

In conjunction with the campaign, the public can obtain the will document for managing their assets which may be worth tens or hundreds of thousands of ringgit, with an initial cost of RM30 monthly and through flexible payment.

Warisan Mukmin chairman Datuk Mohd Nahwari Hashim said the company targeted to register 5,000 wills by the year end. - BERNAMA

Read more: Unresolved inheritance, properties worth RM42b frozen http://www.nst.com.my/articles/Unresolvedinheritance_propertiesworthRM42bfrozen/Article/

Source: Bernama, NST
Date: 31 March 2011

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Properties worth RM42b frozen due to unresolved inheritance

PETALING JAYA (March 30, 2011): Properties worth RM42 billion have been frozen from about one million unresolved inheritance cases due to the absence of written wills.

Amanah Raya Bhd (ARB), a premier government-owned trustee company which provides corporate trusteeship services, legacy management, trust accounts and will management, has found that only 2% of Malaysian have written wills.

Its chief marketing officer, Ahmad Saruji Abdul Aziz, said when people had made a will, all information on their assets would be recorded to facilitate distribution to the beneficiaries later on.

To culturalise writing of wills in society, ARB, in collaboration with Islamic property inheritance management company, Warisan Mukmin Sdn Bhd, has launched a will-writing campaign called Will-Writing Year 2011.

"We don't want the problem to mount. This nationwide year-long campaign is aimed at creating public awareness on the importance of writing a will to avoid other problems later on, especially freeze on property and family disputes or break-ups," he told reporters after launching the campaign, here, today.

In conjunction with the campaign, the public can obtain the will document for managing their assets which may be worth tens or hundreds of thousands of ringgit, with an initial cost of RM30 monthly and through flexible payment.

Warisan Mukmin chairman Datuk Mohd Nahwari Hashim said the company aimed to register 5,000 wills by year-end. — Bernama

Source: Bernama, The Sun
Date: 31 March 2011

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RM40bil in assets stuck

PETALING JAYA: Some RM40bil worth of assets and property left behind by deceased persons continue to be unclaimed due to poor administrative procedures in the distribution of estates to the rightful Muslim heirs.

The unclaimed estate is mainly in the form of EPF contributions and bank savings, vehicles, real estate and insurance benefits.

Deputy head in the Syariah advisory division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Mahamad Naser Disa, said the “loose” and inconsistent Syariah laws relating to inheritance of wakaf (religious or public endowment), ar-rahnu (mortgage) property and hibah (awards), coupled with the constraints of existing laws, complicate the process of managing inherited properties.

In Malaysia, estate administration laws used by Muslims are the Probate and Administration Act 1959 and Small Estate (Distribution) Act 1955.

The practice of “hibah” involved gifts to either people in need or those who are well-to-do.

The awarding of gifts, including for charity, is commended as it helps to improve the lot of the community.

In “ar-rahnu”, a valuable item is collateralised (or pawned) to a debt which may be utilised as payment should the debt not be repaid within the agreed period.

Agencies like Amanah Raya Berhad (ARB), Amanah Hibah and Warisan Mukmin provide professional services in inheritance management and administration.

Mahamad Naser said the absence of specific laws in states on estate management transactions by Muslims made it harder for Syariah judges to hear cases.

“This can result in different judgments being delivered for similar cases as the judges may be referring to different ulamas (religious scholars) and kitabs (religious books),” he said.

Mahamad Naser said: “The aspect of managing and administrating the estate of Muslims, living or dead, is rather poor.

“The RM40bil figure, released by ARB as recently as mid-2009, is alarming,” he said in a paper presented recently at a convention on the planning and management of assets in Islam at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia here.

Mahamad Naser said the problem was also due to indifference and lack of awareness among the Muslims themselves on how to manage their properties.

The unclaimed assets, such as the EPF and bank savings, vehicles, properties and insurance benefits, may be frozen if the heirs continue to tussle over the ineritance.

Should this happen, it could have a grave impact on the country’s economic development as they would not be used in any productive manner, said Mahamad Naser.

He said the Muslim community appears to be confused over the different roles and functions of agencies like the state Islamic councils, the Syariah courts, land office (minor inheritance unit), civil High Courts and ARB.

“For example, when a Muslim dies, the deceased’s beneficiaries would not know where to go for the distribution of the estate, whether it is the Syariah court, the land office or the ARB,” he said.

Besides the judicial conflicts, he said, the absence of concrete laws and other legal constraints in the implementation of matters related to wills, wakaf and hibah, had also caused many problems.

He said the conflict in jurisdiction between the civil and Syariah courts were obvious although an amendment had been made to Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution in 1988.

The article states that the High Court has no jurisdiction in respect of any matter within the jurisdiction of the Syariah courts.

“The main intention of amending Article 121 by including clause 1A is to prevent Syariah court decisions being challenged or set aside by the civil courts.

“Unfortunately, what we had hoped for did not materialise. The conflict of jurisdiction between the two courts still continues,” said Mahamad Naser.

Source: Bernama, The Star, Asia News Network
Date: 17/7/2010

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