Although that line of thinking may be flawed and have a lot of questions surrounding it, it does not mean such cases don’t exist. As a matter of fact, they are a lot more common than we think them to be, even if it’s in Malaysia. It’s not just a common line of thought within Malaysian shores, it’s common everywhere actually. 

However, it does not mean that disabled child will have zero claims over their share of their inheritance. There are several ways to look at this. Let’s have a look at what advantages able-bodied children have when it comes to inheritance. 

1. Fully-abled children are less likely to be disinherited 

It is possible to be disinherited by your parents anywhere you are in the world. Your parents can legally declare in a court that they no longer recognized you as their child. If you are disinherited from and by your parents, you have 0 legal rights to claim their assets when they are no longer around. 

For a fully-abled child, it’s less likely they will be disinherited by their parents. Unless something bad really happened between the fully-abled child and the parents, then yes it is very likely that the parents will disinherit them. 

However, if it’s a disabled child, the disinheritance can be a lot stronger. Some parents cannot stand having a disabled child as they are often considered a burden. The parents may want to abort them, give them up for adoption, and abandon them and so on. 

Solution: There is no need to disinherit the child. There are so many organizations around Malaysia that are willing to provide and offer support for parents with disabled kids. Reach out to them for assistance. I am sure there are solutions to nearly every problems under the sun, including this matter. 

2. Fully-abled children tend to be prioritized 

This is a very straightforward scenario to understand to begin with. It’s quite common that some parents actually give all the inheritance to their able-bodied siblings because they are not disabled. The parents will think that the able-bodied siblings will automatically take care of their disabled sibling. 

Though they may be right for thinking that way, it’s a very naïve line of thought. How would they know if the able-bodied siblings will automatically take care of the disabled child? There will be times when the able-bodied siblings can abandon the disabled sibling just because of their disability. 

Solution: To avoid making such a mistake, have the assets equally distributed between all the siblings, including the disabled child. Each child, disabled or not, should have a fighting chance at having their fair share of their inheritance. 

3. Not having a special needs trust set up or in place 

Some parents think that this is not necessary. However, it is. It’s so important for the disabled child because having one will help him/her in the future. Having one will ensure a positive outcome for the special needs child. 

The disabled child will qualify for public assistance programs that would have been otherwise unavailable to them. If the child does not have a special needs trust set up for them, it will be a very long and painful process for the disabled child to get the public assistance it needs, which often has strict financial eligibility criteria. 

Conclusion 

A disabled child does deserve better in life. If you ever need any assistance for a special needs child’s future, feel free to talk to us. We are more than happy to assist.

Inheritance in Malaysia usually works in a very straightforward way. When it comes to inheritance, things will be easier if it involves a will. It can also be easier if your accounts have named beneficiaries in them. 

However, there are times when inheritance is not as straightforward as it seems. There are certain facets that make the situation complicated. 

In this article, we will try to cover as much as possible regarding inheritance in Malaysia. I will try to make it as simple for all of you to understand how it works too. 

Having a Will is Important 

Let’s establish the basics first. If you are still alive, it’s better if you create a will and legalize it with the help of a certified lawyer. There are many kinds of wills. So make sure you do all the necessary research on the different kinds of wills available to you. 

Since there are so many kinds of wills available to you, you do not need to have all of them. Most times, people just need a simple and straightforward will. In a simple and straightforward will contains items such as: 

• Named beneficiaries
• Percentage of monies or a property that is going to the named beneficiaries
• Trustees
• Having all your properties, monies, and assets listed in this will 

In a simple will, it’s best that you update it periodically. Review it to see if you have any new properties and beneficiaries to add to this will. Even if let’s say you do not have much money (less than rm10,000 to your name), just make one anyway. Now you may not have a lot of money and properties to your name. However in the future, if you ever amassed a whole new amount of wealth, then yes an updated will can be useful. 

There are also comprehensive wills for different purposes. Like for example, there can be living wills, wills for survivorship in properties, and whatnot. Comprehensive will is not for everybody. It’s for people who have “more things to their names”, therefore these kinds of wills are for these kinds of people. 

What If You Don’t Have a Will? 

If you do not have a will, then things will be a bit harder for you. However, it’s not impossible to have the inheritance groundwork laid down and be distributed to the next-of-kin. 

If there isn’t a will, then you will have a lot of problems and disputes with your family members when it comes to who gets what. 

These are what you should look into if you are met with any inheritance disputes. 

1. Refer to Malaysia Distribution Act 1958 

This is the most common inheritance law followed and practiced by Malaysians if there is no valid will. We will go out on a leg and arm here to include the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act 1971. Both the Distribution Act and the Inheritance Act will lay out the conditions of inheritance among the deceased’s next-of-kin. 

There is useful information in the Distribution Act 1958 saying how much each living next-of-kin will get from your assets and properties when you have passed away. It includes information such as the percentage % each surviving family member will get. If you have no spouse and no kids, your properties will go to your siblings and parents. It includes a lot of useful information. 

However, don’t forget that before you receive the assets, monies, etc., the executor will need to find out all the properties and monies the deceased has left behind. The length of time for the executor to locate all assets and properties can take anywhere from a few months to many years. 

2. Legitimate children

This is a complicated matter when it comes to inheritance and inheritance laws in Malaysia. Sometimes you have divorced parents or a deceased parent who has biological kids. These biological kids may or may not have a share in inheritance when it comes to those kinds of things. It all depends on the scenario. 

For example, the father has another child with his mistress. Something happened to the father and he passed away. The father did not leave behind a will for any of his family members. If this is the case, can the child bear out of wedlock inherit anything from his deceased dad? Since that the father is his biological father, but not the mother his biological dad was married to. 

Or for example, the mother has 2 kids from her first marriage. Then she re-married a new man. With the new husband, she can have a will made for any kids between her and her new husband. But what about the 2 kids she had with her previous husband? If she passes away and does not leave any wills behind, will her 2 kids from her previous marriage be entitled to any of the inheritance from her new husband? 

It really all depends on the scenario. There is no 1 straight line or 1 rule that’s “one size fits all”. Lawyers and executioners will have to do their jobs and find out if these kids from previous marriages or out of wedlock are entitled to any inheritance if there is no will. 

3. Non-family and non-relative persons named in your will 

Here’s the thing about wills – even when you have written one and legalized it. Your family members can still contest and question its contents. It can be a lot of scenarios. Even if you have finalized your final will and legalized it, it does not mean your immediate family members can accept it. 

For example, in your will (and any other accounts and assets), you have listed a mistress, a close friend, a society, etc., as the beneficiary. However, even though these people or societies are more than happy to have a cut in your assets, it does not mean they will get it in the end. 

Your family members can take your will to and have it contested and challenged. If they win the court case, whatever you have promised your friend/mistress/organization can be reverted. But this is only when your family has a very strong and solid case to it. If not, then whoever non-blood-related people are named in your will as beneficiary will get the assets you have listed for them. 

4.  No non-family and non-relative persons named in your will 

Here’s the thing with having wills. Even if you did not name an organization, a mistress, or a close friend in your will, your immediate family members can still find issues with it. The biggest reason why they are unhappy with the inheritance shares is that they don’t agree with how it’s split. 

Some people will, for example, give their spouse 1/3 of their assets, 1/3 be given to the first child, and the final 1/3 to their youngest child. Some family members think this is “unfair”. They may think maybe as parents they should get more, whereas the kids get less. 

Or for some people, they think that the sons should get more because sons are “more important than daughters”, right? Or vice versa because girls don’t earn as much as their male counterparts so they should get more. 

Again this is another family dispute that you will have to deal with before and after you have passed away. You’ll be unable to please anyone and everyone. So that means you will need to be extra firm in your final decisions. 

Conclusion 

There are many possibilities for family disputes over inheritance. You cannot solve all of them but it’s worth being transparent and open about who gets what after you have passed away. 

When people think of wills and asset payouts, people often assume that it is done so when the will owner passed away. They will think everything will go smoothly, and that the beneficiaries will inherit the assets accordingly. Most times payouts are pretty straightforward and have very little problems. 

What if a beneficiary passed away before the will owner does? Or the fact that shortly after the will owner passed away, the beneficiaries passed away too? The circumstances may vary but the question remains. What will happen to the deceased beneficiary’s portion when he or she passes away? 

In this article, we will cover how the deceased beneficiaries’ portions will be handled if they are to pass away before the will owner does. 

How Do You Include Alternative Beneficiaries In Your Will? 

Typically in a will you are allowed to name multiple beneficiaries up to a certain number of people. It can be your immediate families and relatives, or you can also include close family friends. Sometimes, some people decide to name an organization as their beneficiary. 

If one of the beneficiaries passed away before the will owner does, the will owner can still award the deceased beneficiaries’ beneficiaries a portion of the assets and monies. The will owner can include alternative beneficiaries by using the “per stripes” and “per capita” clauses. 

By including the “per stripes” and “per capita” clauses, the will can ascertain that the deceased beneficiary’s portion of assets be given to his/her beneficiaries. The same clause will also make sure that it will not lapse and become residuary property.   

“Per Stripes” vs “Per Capita”: What Is The Difference? 

“Per stripes” allows a deceased beneficiary’s living next-of-kin to inherit the beneficiaries’ gift by right of representation. If the deceased beneficiary was promised 10% of the will owner’s assets, then they will get it. If the deceased beneficiary’s named next-of-kin is just 1 person, then the person will get the entire 10%. If there are 3 of them, then it will be the 10% divided among the 3 representatives. 

“Per capita” means distribution according to the current living beneficiaries. It means that when the beneficiary passes away, whatever he was promised will be returned to the will owner when he/she passes away. It’s to prevent any lapsing or having the property becoming a residuary property. 

If Named Beneficiary is a Child (Under 18 years of Age) Who Dies Early 

We fully understood that if any beneficiary dies before the will owner does, the money can either go to the beneficiary or be returned to the will owner. According to section 26 of the Wills Act, if the named beneficiary is a child and passes away, then the gift to the named child will not lapse. 

However there are survivorship clauses that states there should be a minimum period where a beneficiary will have to live for after the will owner’s death. Only then will the beneficiary receive anything from the will. 

Survivorship period can be anywhere from 1 day to 6 months. If the child is a named beneficiary, then the child will have to live for at least 30 days before being able to “receive anything”. But if the child dies after the 30 days period but before the will owner does, then it means that the will owner did not wish for them to receive anything from their will. 

With that being said the deceased child is still intended as a beneficiary and receive anything from the will. This is because by logic, children is not likely to pass away before an adult does for obvious reasons. It’s if the child was not born sick or with any living death deformities. But there are cases where the child is born with illness and deformities, and they will still receive assets from the will owners if they are named beneficiaries. 

Voided Portion of the Will 

If let’s say there are no “per stripe” or “per capita” clause included in the will. One of the named beneficiaries passed away before the payout. That means, according to Section 19 of the Wills Act 1959, his portion of the estate will be voided due to death. 

It can be included as part of the residuary estate and distributed according to the residuary estate clause. 

However, there are cases where when the beneficiary has passed away, he/she will still get their portion of the payout. The payout will go to the beneficiary’s estate and part of his will. That means whatever the beneficiary has received posthumously will be passed on to their named beneficiaries in their will. If there is no will left behind, the assets and monies will be distributed according to the distribution act. 

Conclusion 

Beneficiaries who have passed away before the will owner does can still receive their portion of the monies and assets. It all depends on the particulars in the will.