It’s All In The Planning!

Here are 10 easy points to help make drafting your will a painless procedure and give a fond farewell to your loved ones: 1. Decide who will benefit Your spouse or children will not always inherit everything if you die without having written a Will. Also, unmarried or single-sex couples have no automatic legal rights [...]

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This article appeared in The Times newspaper of the United Kingdom a few years ago. It’s interesting as the case revolved around an old infirmed lady and her domestic help: Life expectancy is rising and property prices are rocketing. As a result, many older people are looking to the future and asking: how will my [...]

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A rather morbid story today but a necessary one. It’s about arranging a funeral. I’m no expert in this field but if you need a professional funeral director here in Malaysia, there are several too. Losing a loved one is always difficult, but the financial concerns of arranging a funeral can cause additional anxiety. From [...]

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More interesting information on dormant accounts from the UK perspective. The story is quite out-of-date (Gordon Brown has left the UK political scene) and circumstances may be slightly different now. However, do read it to get an overview about what happens to your money should your banking accounts go dormant. BANKS and building societies are [...]

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About a fortnight ago, I brought you a story about lost treasures. This time, it’s specifically about money that’s been long “forgotten” in a banking account. Don’t laugh, it does happen. Sometimes, it’s because the account owners are simply too lazy to go to the bank to close their accounts. Anyway, here is the story [...]

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I came across this interesting story in The Times newspaper quite some time ago. Do note that the article was written with the United Kingdom in mind. In Malaysia, there is something similar called the Unclaimed Moneys and if your money lies dormant and unclaimed in the bank for more than seven years, it will [...]

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I haven’t read a clearer story than this one from The Times. It’s so clear that I feel the need to share it with everyone I come across. The gist of the story is that your debts are never written off when you die. When you die, creditors will still have a claim on your [...]

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I was reading this Q&A item in The Times newspaper recently. Do bear in mind that as this advice was given by a barrister in England and the circumstances refer to UK law, it may not be totally applicable here in Malaysia. Nevertheless, it raised an interesting point of view. Q In her will, my [...]

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Here’s a real life situation. Some years ago – maybe two years ago – I helped to write someone’s Will. The person wanted to appoint a Trust company as the executor despite being advised that a family member would probably be a better choice considering the assets he owned. A year after this Will was [...]

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Not leaving a Will means leaving a heartache for a bereaving family, especially one that is unaware of the legal quicksand. Can you imagine a scenario such as this: a man died without having written a Will. All he owned were assets of not more than RM600,000 including a house. His non-working widowed wife thought [...]

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