A grant of letter of administration can be issued by either one of three (3) bodies in Malaysia, ie, the High Court, Small Estate Distribution Unit or Amanah Raya Berhad. With the letter of administration, it allows the person who applied and granted for the letter of administration to administer the estate of a person who died without leaving a valid Will. There are different requirements and procedures in applying letter of administration from the three (3) different bodies aforesaid in Malaysia. Here, we will talk about the requirements and procedures in applying letter of administration in the High Court.
Requirements
The total value of the deceased’s estate shall exceed RM2 Million; and
The deceased died without leaving a valid Will.
Procedures
The entire process in obtaining the letter of administration would take at least 3-6 months depends on the number of cases filed in the Court during that period of time. Generally, the procedures for the letter of administration application are as follows:-
1. Provide relevant details and supporting documents to your lawyer to prepare the cause papers (documents to be signed by the administrator(s)) for the letter of administration application (by way of an ex parte Originating Summon).
2. Upon signing of the cause papers, your lawyer will then file them to the High Court.
3. After obtaining the case number of the letter of administration application, your lawyer may file a notice of application to exempt the requirement for two (2) sureties. This is because under Section 35(1) Probate and Administration Act 1959, the administrator is required to procure two (2) person to act as sureties to provide an administration bond equivalent to the gross value of the deceased’s estate. However, this requirement can be exempted if the administrator is unable to do so.
4. The Court will then fix hearing for the letter of administration application within 1-2 months after filing of the cause papers.
5. Once the hearing date is fixed, you will be informed by your lawyer where the administrator(s) is required to attend to the Court on the hearing date. The administrator(s) must bring along with his identity card and the original death certificate of the deceased.
6. The hearing will normally be heard before a Registrar (a Court’s officer) of the High Court.
7. Upon checking the original death certificate and all the cause papers, the Registrar will allow the letter of administration application provided that all the aforesaid documents are in orderly manner.
8. After the hearing, the administrator(s) shall wait approximately one (1) month for the extraction of the letter of administration from the Court.
9. After obtaining the sealed letter of administration issued by the Court, the administrator(s) can collect the deceased’s assets and to settle all the deceased’s debts accordingly. Thereafter, the administrator(s) shall distribute the balance of the deceased’s assets in accordance with Section 6 of the Distribution Act 1958.
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