Common Q&A

What happens if the beneficiary dies during the Will Maker’s Lifetime?

• S.19 of the WA 1959 states that if the beneficiary die during the will maker’s lifetime, the portion of the estate meant for the beneficiary will be voided by reason of death
• It will be included as part of the “residuary estate” and distributed according to the residuary estate clause. 

What happens if the beneficiary die AFTER the Will Maker’s death, BUT before the the will is executed. 

• Execution of a will can take a long, long time. Within that span of time, a lot can happen – including the death of a beneficiary.
• In such cases, the estate due for the beneficiary will still be passed on to the deceased beneficiary, to then form a part of his/her estate.

• From there, it will be dealt with according to the deceased beneficiary’s will.

Can I revoke my own Will in Malaysia? How?

• You can always revoke your own will as and when you wish. Any new will written will automatically revoke the earlier one written.
• But say you hired a lawyer to write your will for you while you were in your first marriage. A few years later, you divorce your husband/wife and want to remove him/her as your beneficiary. Is your previous will still valid, or will it automatically be revoked?
• As divorce does not automatically revoke your will, you will have to write a new one which will take precedence and invalidate the previous will

Below are Marriage or remarriage, unless the will is made “in contemplation of a particular marriage”. Divorce does not automatically revoke a will.

• If the will was physically destroyed by you with the intention to revoke it. Accidental or malicious destruction by a third party will not revoke a will.
• A subsequent will written after the previous will will render it invalid. You can also make a written statement in the presence of 2 witnesses to revoke it without writing a new will.
• A non-Muslim person who converts to Islam will revoke his/her will. This is because estate distribution will automatically follow the Faraid distribution.
• The circumstances in which the will can be automatically revoked.