Having had the benefit of more than 30 years in dispute resolution as a lawyer, I see countless fights over property. Quite a number of these fights are over inheritance rights that could have been avoided if there had been a Will.
However, even if you have a Will, it will do you no good if it cannot be found. It is not uncommon, therefore, that every now and then, you will see advertisements taken out in newspapers and magazines for lawyers seeking for information on the whereabouts of a particular Will.
Wills made, can go missing for many reasons. They can even be stolen or destroyed without the person making the Will ever knowing about it when the time comes for the need for the Will.
With the view to preventing unnecessary and at times costly fights over inheritance rights over the lack of a Will or a missing Will, the idea of creating a central registry for Wills was born. However, given my busy dispute resolution practice, it took me quite a few years for the idea to be translated into action and finally in 2015 active steps were taken together with my fellow co-director who is also a lawyer, to form a company to get up Malaysia’s first Will central registry complete with a vault with a state of the art fire suppression technology.
It is my hope that this Will Registry will save many a family from unnecessary disputes over inheritance rights and if it can even save one such fight with all its emotional distress, I would be happy. In keeping with this wish, efforts are made to keep the costs of our services we provide as low as possible so that it is affordable for all.
Su Tiang Joo
