Legal protection for estate beneficiaries against personal representatives in Malaysia

Abstract

In Malaysia, the law mandated the appointment of personal representatives before the deceased’s estate can be dealt with. The central idea of the appointment of personal representatives is not only to protect the estate of the deceased person but also to ensure that the rights and interests of the beneficiaries are also safeguarded. However, vast powers, rights and duties conferred on the personal representatives create opportunities for widespread misappropriation of the deceased’s estate. This research is undertaken based on the premise that the present law relating to the protection and remedies to estate beneficiaries against unscrupulous personal representatives is not comprehensive as the provisions are scattered all around the legal system from civil, criminal, procedural law and some relevant judicial decisions especially with the existence of the three different administrative bodies namely, Civil High Court, Estate Distribution Section and Amanah Raya Berhad (Corporation). Hence, reforming the existing legal framework with regards to the protection and remedial perspectives to the beneficiaries has become highly necessary. In pursuant thereto, this research analyses the qualifications and appointment of the personal representatives and issues on legal protection and remedies to the estate beneficiaries based on the analysis of the governing statutes, reported cases, interviews conducted with selected individuals and data obtained from the administrative bodies. A comparative analysis has also been made where ever appropriate with other laws in selected Commonwealth jurisdictions such as England, Australian and Canada. This research finds that reforms should be made to the existing legal and institutional framework due to the insufficiency inherent in the existing statutory provisions especially in regulating the protection and appropriate remedies to the estate beneficiaries. The research also predicates that there should be a regulatory body to monitor the conduct of the personal representatives so that the rights and interests of the estate beneficiaries are properly safeguarded and not adversely affected.