There were 2 articles written by lawyers (a Bar council member and another a lawyer) who basically defended writing a will better done by a lawyer as opposed to a professional will writer. I think Penangmee is convinced by these 2 lawyers hence she advises against it.

I feel those articles has some points but overall it's meant to protect their profession rather than to serve the public.

Quick question: Can a non-muslim name a muslim (not related in any way, by blood or legally) in his will as the rightful person to inherit some of his assets should he die?

can, but onli up to 2/3 of the estate

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Added on March 6, 2010, 8:49 pm i agree; i think if we go thru will writers are cheaper than going thru lawyers - and lawyers won't entertain us after office hours, compared to will writers

This post has been edited by leongal: Mar 6 2010, 08:49 PM

Oh... I didn't know there is a limit in the case of a non-muslim testator's distribution of assets to a muslim.

I only know that in the case of a muslim testator, a will can only be made in respect of not more than 1/3 of his net estate according the the Islam's Faraid Law of inheritance.

This post has been edited by Aurora Boreali: Mar 6 2010, 09:01 PM

Thanks for all your feedbacks. I did some searching and it looks like it is not so difficult to write out a will but it can be tricky with the wordings.

The one question that is still in my mind is must we have two witness with no relation?.

What happens if these witness are not around any more or dont end up helping later on. If we go to a will writing agent or a lawyer the same can happen, they may be not around when we need them?

From what I've heard from a friend of mine who are working for Rockwills,its not wrong to write a will on your own but of course it have to follow the standard provided as well. For her company,they will provide you lawyers choices up to 5 people,in case that maybe some of them are no longer working or etc.They are professionals,of course they have to make sure that customers' are well covered in all aspects of possibilities.

I am one of the will witness to my friend he composed himself from downloaded samples, the assets worth 3 million and he got only one daughter that all the family member is at their 50 - 60, very simple and everything goes to the daughter should anything happen. so no need professionals.

The way I see it without a will if you have dependants like a wife and young children it makes thinks very difficult for them. There is no question that you need a will so they wont have difficult times upto 2-3 years to get a LA or etc. Putting the will into efect also involves the courts and lawyers. It looks like getting it done via a lawyer yields some benifits.

For me very simple, I want all my estate (properties + moneys + car + etc) to go to my wife 100%. My kids are minors (young) and if my wife is not around too then to give all to my 2 kids equaly. If a guardian needs to be apointed for my kids in the event my wife is not around then to state my elder sister. All my estate will go to my kids when they are age 18. I am an average joe, we are not talking millions here or anywhere near it.

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Added on March 6, 2010, 11:41 pmI guess it would be simple but it also depends that the daughter is not a minor. In my case I have 2 daughthers which are minors and it can happen that me and my wife could be not around when they still are minors. Then need to apoint a guardian or trustess etc.

This post has been edited by gsdev: Mar 6 2010, 11:41 PM

Witness is easy to find; but the problem is always with executor.
Executor is the party that helps you "execute" the will when the unfortunate befalls. Thus in will writing, the executor party had to be listed clearly in the will. Also, to prevent conflict of interest; the executor needs to be someone who has the same amount of assets or more as the will owner.

Thus it's still more efficient in paying for will services.
http://www.mywill.com.my/will_custody.asp
http://www.rockwillsonline.com.my
http://www.pbebank.com.my/en/en_content/trustee/wasiat.html

OSK trustee does will writing, keeping and execution too IIRC

Choose your witness properly. If witnesss can't be located later after attempt such as advertise in newsppaer, the lawyer can apply to court to strike the witness.

When the person dies, witness role is to sign the affidavit stating the person has done the will. Some lawyer that are witness knowing that they are not hire by the executor, will deliberately ask for money to sign it

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Added on March 7, 2010, 7:45 am3M is a huge asset. Proper will planning might be needed. Perhaps your friend should think how they going to distribute them if the daughter is to pass away first and also any for their future grandchildren etc..

This post has been edited by cuebiz: Mar 7 2010, 07:45 AM

go to amanah raya berhad..writing a will

last time I cancelled their service because of their agent used my name without my 'will'.

Interesting indeed. What happened?

Last year I apply CC with 1 bank & the agent also offer will's service to me, but i decline. Instead, she says I could reject the service later on. Unfortunately, after 1~2 month I received my CC, I saw they charge the will's service to my CC statement. WTF!

Then I wrote a latter to the bank to reject that transaction, complaining to that bank (will's deparment), Amanah Raya Berhad & Bank Negara. A month later I received my money back...

~ I lost my trust to them. How can I trust them from what they do to me even when I still live?

I think they will bill you due u didnt reject them on the spot. This is how bank do thing. You didn't cancel means u would like to take it. If you don't wan to take it. You will cancel it in the future.

That is y now credit card charging on daily basis no longer on monthly. Because as banker say, you cancel the service later on. Same goes to credit card.

You can pay later on, but....charge u daily after due lo...

I'd say they're making a good use of daily interest factor.

is a huge asset.. although the distribution looks simple but then who would be the executor in this instant... If you hire a lawyer to execute the will the lawyer has the rights to claim a total of 5% of the entire asset worth as their 'fees' - (correct me if i'm wrong though!).. I would just engage a trustee to take care of the asset, lesser the headaches.

It's the percentage of the "gross" asset IIRC. Not a small sum in this case.

I agree to that. Writing a will is one thing but making sure it's water tight is another matter. There's no point to it if it fails to give effect to the deceased original intention of composing it simply because there's a lacuna in interpreting it by the courts.

so how do we settle tis lacuna issue? use rockwills or lawyer or etc better?