If the deceased died without a Will and have money in the Account, I would advice not to inform the Bank until you have taken out the money.

if you have ATM Card, better you take out all the Cash and then only inform the Bank

After you have taken out the Cash, you need to inform the Bank that issued the Credit Card of your FIL Death by giving a copy of the Death Cert and ask the Bank to immediately Cancel the Cards.

Ask the Bank to charging any more additional charges / interest until the financial affairs are sorted out.

Then does your FIL have any surplus estate / Assets

Banks cannot sue a Dead Person but they can sue the Estate or the Admnistrator of the Estate

Do you have any Lawyer friends who can help you or perhaps your Insurance Agent who can give detailed advice.The position of the Law is that you can only bequeath Assets and not Liabilities.

So for Loans, unless any of the beneficiary was a Joint Borrower, no other person will be liable for it.

But as the Property was charged, the Bank will need to be repaid. Hence, either the Housing Loan must be settled or the Bank will auction of the Property with the Balance of the proceeds after netting of the Principal Sum to be distributed to the beneficiaries.

By Right, the Administrator is suppose to settle all liabilities before distributing the surplus assets. This includes paying off all other liabioities of the deceased such as Taxes, CC, etc.

The Creditors can take action against the Administrator only and not the beneficiary.

FYI, Insurance monies are excluded from this and can be paid directly to the Beneficiary without any set-off of Liabilities due to Lenders / Creditors

I believe EPF Monies can also be paid directly to Beneficiary without set off of loans ourstanding.

my condolence for your loss


To give a quick answer to your question

1) EPF follows the nomination process. If your relative has made a nomination, thing will Just follow who he nominated.

You will have to take his death certificate and go to the nearest epf office to enquire.

Else will follow the distribution act.

2) Credit card. Inform the credit card issuer of your dad death and ask them to cancel the card and appeal for the interest to be freeze pending whatever distribution of the estate.

You will need to send this letters via registered mail or delivery by hand with acknowledgement if things get ugly and they still charge compound interest which the bank is still entitled.

As for the house, I suggest an alternative path to transfer the property which is via Small Estate Distribution.

It works under 2 conditions

1) value of the property is below rm2 mln

2)all beneficiary must agree to how the property is going to be transferred

Plus you can include all other assets including bank accounts, shares provided condition (2) is achieved

Please Google small estate distribution.

Go to the land office at Wisma Jpuem or nearest land office if you are from outside Klang Valley. They are very helpful and understanding and the process can be settled in under 6 mths.

You don't need lawyers and its very cheap.

Cheaper than even Amanah Raya

But conditions (2) must be achieved and you must have a property and value of property is below 2 mil to be distributed

P/S what is the credit card debt.

Remember, Banks can't sue a dead person but can only sue the administrator of the estate

Btw. Under the small estate distribution, someone must agree to be the administrator

This post has been edited by cfa28: Aug 2 2020, 04:33 PM

Technically they can only sue the administration of the estate.

The administration of the estate is only suppose to transfer the estate or property to the beneficiaries after setting all liability including loans and taxes.

If you are selling the property then it's simple but if you are only going to transfer ownership, do you have surplus cash to settle the credit card debts.

You can use the epf account

How big of an account are we talking about.

The insolvency act has been amended to increase the amount to declare someone as insolvent is RM50K.

Another point you have to consider is whether your relative owe irb any taxes.

Now irb is the biggest d1ckhead in Malaysia and will bite and not let go if your relatives own any taxes especially if they were doing business


What is the market value of the property

Does your relative have any will or bank account with the same issuing bank. Under right of set-off, the bank can use cash and deposit under the name of the card holder to offset against any amounts owing on other accounts

That's why my loan and deposit account are different banks as far as possible.

This post has been edited by cfa28: Aug 2 2020, 05:32 PM

Honestly I have nothing new to add.

I take it from your case, your relative probably passed without a will.

In this case, you will follow the Distribution Act. But are the beneficiaries willing to cooperation on the distribution cos if you use the Small Estate Distribution its even cheaper than getting a probate with a will.


The only requirement is that you must have a property or properties with combined value of below RM2 mil and all beneficiaries can agree with the distribution allocation.

But your issues is with the credit card debt cos the executor of the estate is not supposed to distribute the estate until all liability are settled.

Who is going to be the executor?

You also need to find out who is the nominee for the epf account.

You better hope it's not the parents of the deceased cos it it is, you're forked.

It then goes to the beneficiaries of the deceased parents either based on the parents will or Distribution act at the time of the parents passing.

But first thing first is

1) Find out who is the EPF nominee

2) how much cash can you withdraw using ATM

3) inform bank to freeze the CC after taking out the cash in (2) and try to do final settlement. Important to get in writing that whatever payment you make, its considered as FINAL SETTLEMENT. You must include the words final settlement in your letters to the bank and if it's accepted, the bank then cannot ask for more money in future.

4) go to the land office to ask on the procedure for the small estate distribution