One half will be distributed to the surviving spouse and the other half will be divided equally amongst the child/children of the deceased. For details, please refer to section 4 of the Intestates’ Estates Ordinance. Usually the executor is a member of the family or a close and trusted friend of the whole family. This necklace could not be found in the old lady’s home or safe deposit box after her death.
If a Will is found, the Holder (if he/she is the named executor) can take the Will away after making a copy of the same and placing the copy in the safe deposit box. For more information regarding the application procedure, please refer to the website of the Home Affairs Department. With effect from 1st April 2007, the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs has delegated his power as regards access, inspection and inventory taking of a deceased person’ safe deposit box to the Director of Home Affairs. The deceased’s family members or legal representative must check carefully to see if the deceased had made a Will (or whether the Will on hand is the latest/last Will or not). Whether or not a Will is left by the deceased would affect the application procedure for the Grant of Representation. If the applicant discovers additional assets which have not been included in the verifying affirmation, the applicant should file a Corrective Affirmation/Affidavit verifying the Additional Schedule of Assets and Liabilities (Before Grant).
Details of the application procedure can be viewed from the website of the Home Affairs Department (Estate Beneficiaries Support Services). For deaths on or after 11th February 2006, the Applicant should follow the new procedure and arrangement which will be described in Procedures. However, the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Ordinance (Cap. 481 of the laws of Hong Kong) empowers the Court to make orders that provisions be made out of the deceased’s estate for certain members of the deceased’s family and dependants. That means people can, by Will, leave their assets to whomever they wish. The guardian cannot however displace the rights of a surviving legal parent. For example, a trustee or a guardian may be appointed to monitor the assets inherited by the disabled.
If there are two personal representatives, can one of them deal with the estate alone?
One point to note before the abolition of estate duty is that any gift to a registered charity in Hong Kong according to your Will is exempt from estate duty. You may wish to make specific gifts of money, shares, or real estate to certain persons or charities. Most often, you will leave your personal belongings to your spouse. If the beneficiary does not outlive the testator for the specific period, the gift will go to another designated beneficiary if the will so specifies. A survivorship clause is a clause in a will that requires the beneficiary must outlive the testator by a specific period before is eligible to receive the gift. However, if there are any specific terms in that Will which allow the former spouse to take some assets from the deceased’s estate, these terms may be void unless a contrary intention is proved.
What property constitutes assets?
In general, there is no remuneration for a personal representation. The duty to account does not arise only at the end of the administration. forzabet (2) give details of movement of assets, incomes and expenditure of the estate;
Only if the deceased has no issue can the parents and siblings have a share in the deceased’s estate, even if his/her spouse survives . The order of priority under the law relating to the entitlement of the deceased’s estate is similar to the order relating to the eligibility to apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration (please refer to the relevant question and answer). How can this executor balance his/her duty to make the requisite inquiries on behalf of the granddaughter and yet maintain a harmonious relationship with the deceased’s other family members?
Preliminary issues to be considered (with or without a Will)
One major difference between an executor and an administrator The maximum number of administrators (or adminstratrix in case of a female) of an estate is four . A “Personal Representative” is a general term for either an executor or an administrator.
- The power of an executor stems directly from the Will.
- Other substituted modes of service will only be granted if it is shown that personal service cannot be effected after reasonable attempts have been made.
- The situation may be different if the will specifically asks the personal representative to run the deceased’s business for a period, or if all the beneficiaries so agree.
- The maximum number of administrators (or adminstratrix in case of a female) of an estate is four .
- Where the will is lost and there are no available copies of the will, an application for an order admitting proof of other evidence of its contents can be made to the Registrar under r.53 of Non-contentious Probate Rules (Cap. 10A).
Under r.21 of Non-Contentious Probate Rules (Cap. 10A), the persons having a beneficial interest in the estate are preferred to be granted the administration. If a personal representative of a spouse is involved, If one can prove that all persons in the preceding order are either deceased or have waived their eligibility, he or she can apply for the grant of administration. (vi) any legatee or devisee, whether residuary or specific, entitled on the happening of any contingency, or any person having no interest under the will of the deceased who would have been entitled to a grant if the deceased had died wholly intestate. If the executor fails to appear or prosecute his application for a grant within the time limit, you may apply by inter-partes summons returnable to the Registrar for the appropriate order.
- Your domicile as at the date of death can have implications on the disposition of estate in your Will.
- It is a gift of something the testator owns at the date he makes his will.
- The applicable ground is that a grant had been obtained by a false or incorrect statement because a will has been discovered after a grant of administration.
- In particular, a person representative has the power to commence legal proceedings to collect assets for the estate, including but not limited to obtain a freezing order against the party holding the assets so that that party cannot dispose of those assets until court order.
- A Grant of Probate is a Grant given to the executor (or executrix, in case of a female) named in the last Will of the deceased person.
- One point to note before the abolition of estate duty is that any gift to a registered charity in Hong Kong according to your Will is exempt from estate duty.
Can the testator make one Will to deal with Hong Kong property and another Will to deal with overseas property?
In the event that a child has predeceased the deceased without leaving any child(ren) of his/her own and the deceased has more than one surviving child, the predeceased child’s share of the estate will be equally divided among other surviving children. If the deceased’s children all survived him/her, the residuary estate will be divided equally among them, and the grandchildren will not receive any portion of the estate. On the other hand, if one or both parents survive, the siblings cannot obtain a share of the deceased’s estate. One half will be distributed to the surviving spouse and the other half will be distributed to the surviving parent(s). If the deceased has issue, the deceased’s parents, brothers and sisters cannot obtain anything even if the deceased’s spouse has predeceased (die before) the deceased. (C) The deceased leaves a spouse, parents and siblings, but no issue
The testator should specify whether the employee will only receive the legacy if the employee is still in the testator’s employment at the date of death. In that case, a testator must also specify the conditions in which the executor will receive the legacy, e.g. Therefore, a testator must specify in the will if he wishes to leave the executor a legacy for taking up the role. It is a gift of a stated amount of money to a beneficiary.
A Will is a document which sets out how a person’s assets are to be distributed after his or her death. Before the abolition of estate duty, as the Applicant needs to obtain estate duty clearance before filing the application for a Grant with the Probate Registry, the Inland Revenue Department acted as the gate keeper to prevent possible intermeddling of the deceased’s estate. They will only be entitled to part of the estate (after deduction of the spouse’s entitlement) if the deceased leaves no issue and no parents. In reality, it often happens that 2 or more parties who are entitled to the assets survive and may claim the deceased’s estate together.
Therefore, it is worth knowing more about the services provided by estate agents. No matter whether you are a vendor or a purchaser, the first party that you have to deal with is normally the estate agent. (iii) Vendor and purchaser sign a provisional (or preliminary) agreement for sale and purchase of the selected property (the provisional agreement is usually provided by the estate agent). (i) A vendor finds an estate agent(s) to sell the property, and/or a purchaser finds an estate agent(s) to search for appropriate properties to buy; More specifically, families or dependents of the deceased may claim against the estate if they contend that they should be given a share (if not provided under the will or intestacy) or a large share than the share that they are now given under will or intestacy. Note also that there may be claim under Inheritance (Provisions for Families and Dependents) Ordinance (Cap. 481) within 6 months of grant.