It is one of the departments of Cheung & Co., specializing in drafting Wills, making probate applications and dealing with probate litigation.

• You are advised to first search your NOK’s  apartment and ask your relatives or your NOK’s lawyers if your NOK have made a Will.

• If yes, you need to identify who is/are the executor(s)/executrix(s) of your NOK’s  estates appointed in the Will. The executor(s)/executrix(s) need to apply for a “Grant of Probate” to the High Court and distribute the Deceased’s estate to the beneficiaries according to the contents of the Will after he/she has successfully obtained the “Grant of Probate”.

• If the deceased kept a safe deposit box with a bank, you can apply to inspect the safe deposit box by yourself or through the assistance of a law firm to ensure that there is no Will left in the safe deposit box.

• In addition, with the assistance of our law firm, we can conduct a Will search through the Hong Kong Law Society to check if the deceased made a Will in any law firm in Hong Kong before his/her death. Given that a Will has a significant impact on the distribution of the deceased’s estate, thorough scrutiny of the Will is essential.

• A “Grant of Representation” is a court document. It enables the executor(s)/administrator(s) to deal with the deceased’s estate so as to manage and distribute the relevant assets to the beneficiaries.

• A “Grant of Representation” is a collective term for a “Grant of Probate” or a “Grant of Letters of Administration”.

• If the deceased dies testate (i.e., he/she had made a Will appointing an executor), the court will issue a “Grant of Probate” for an executor who successfully applies for it.

• If the deceased dies intestate (i.e., no Will is found or if the Will has been revoked), the court will issue a “Grant of Letters of Administration” to an administrator who is entitled to apply for it under the law of intestacy.

• If the total amount of the estate does not exceed HK$150,000, which only includes cash in hands, bank deposits and MPF, you are advised to seek assistance from the Public Application Section of the Probate Registry to apply for a Grant of Representation.

• If the total amount of the estate does not exceed HK$50,000, which only includes cash in hands, you are advised to apply for a confirmation notice from the Estate Beneficiaries Support Services of the Home Affairs Department to deal with the estate.

• It is a criminal offence to administer or deal with any estate of a deceased without lawful authority. A maximum fine for a person guilty of intermeddling would be HK$10,000 and an additional penalty equal to the value of the intermeddled part of the estate or the intermeddled part of the income of the estate.

• Should you have any queries, you should not hesitate to seek legal advice from our solicitors, the Probate Registry of the High Courts or the Estate Beneficiaries Support Services of the Home Affairs Department.

• The entitlement regarding the right of a person to apply for the “Grant of Letters of Administration” will be in accordance with the Intestates’ Estates Ordinance (Cap.73), the surviving spouse of the deceased should normally be the first in obtaining the right to apply for a “Grant of Letters of Administration”.

• After obtaining the “Grant of Letters of Administration”, the surviving spouse will further distribute the estate of the deceased according to the said Ordinance.

• In short, the surviving spouse of the deceased has the first priority in applying for the “Grant of Letters of Administration”. If the surviving spouse passed away, then the children of the deceased would be entitled to apply for the Grant. However, if both the surviving spouse and the children passed away, the father or mother of a deceased would be the person entitled to the Grant.

• According to the Intestate’s Estate Ordinance (Cap. 73), after deduction of the deceased's debts, taxes, funeral, legal and administration expenses from the estate, the estate of the deceased should be distributed in accordance with the following methods:
  • (a) A deceased only leaves a spouse
    1. If the deceased leaves a spouse, but leaves no issue, parent, brother or sister of the whole blood (the same parents), or issue of a brother or sister of the whole blood, then the surviving husband or wife is absolutely entitled to the residuary estate
  • (b) A deceased leaves a spouse and issue (child/children)
    1. If the deceased leaves a spouse and issue (child/children), whether or not he/she is survived by his/her parents or siblings, the surviving spouse could first take (1) all of the deceased's personal chattels; and (2) a sum of $500,000 from the residuary estate.
    2. After the aforesaid $500,000 is paid out, if there is any remaining sum, it would be divided in half. One half will be distributed to the surviving spouse and the other half will be divided equally amongst the child/children of the deceased.
  • (c) A deceased leaves issue (child/children) and siblings
    1. If the deceased has issue (child/children), the deceased's parents, brothers and sisters cannot obtain anything even if the deceased's spouse has predeceased the deceased.
    2. The estate of the deceased will be distributed equally among the issue only.
  • (d) A deceased leaves a spouse, parents and siblings, but no issue (child/children)
    1. if the deceased has no issue (child/children), the parents and siblings can have a share in the deceased's estate, even if his/her spouse survives.
    2. The surviving spouse can first take (1) all of the deceased's personal chattels and (2) a sum of $1,000,000 from the residuary estate.

• After the aforesaid $1,000,000 is paid out, if there is any remaining sum, it would be divided in half. One half will be distributed to the surviving spouse and the other half will be distributed to the surviving parent(s).

• There may be some other troublesome cases, for example, a deceased only leaves siblings or other distant relatives and etc.
• You are strongly advised to seek assistance from our solicitors in these cases!

• If the deceased dies testate (i.e., he/she had made a Will appointing an executor), the estate of the deceased should be distributed according to the Will. The legal status of a child is irrelevant to the distribution of the deceased’s estate.

• However, if the deceased dies intestate (i.e., no Will is found), illegitimate children can enjoy the same succession right as legitimate children (i.e., children born in wedlock) if their parents die after 19^th June 1993.

• Children who are adopted in accordance with the law also enjoy the same right to inherit their parent’s estate as biological children do. They will be considered as legally adopted children of their parents but not the children of the others.

• Generally speaking, a person can make a Will to decide his/her estate’s distribution after his/her death. However, the law of inheritance still has effect on dealing with some exceptional circumstances.

• Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Ordinance (Cap. 481), a cohabitant of a deceased, a child born out of wedlock and etc. may be entitled to claim under this Ordinance. Also, you may want to consider challenging the voluntariness and mental capacity of a deceased when he/she was making the Will.
• Therefore, you are strongly advised to come and talk to our solicitors if any of the above situations arise.

• If you intend to claim for any shares of the estate of a deceased in court, you are highly recommended to seek legal services from our law firm to file a Caveat to the court in advance.

• This action stops other people from applying for a Grant of Representation and distributing the estate of a deceased immediately right after obtaining the Grant of Representation, thereby allowing you to seek further legal advice from our solicitors.

This kind of situation will usually invoke other relevant probate litigation or commercial disputes, you are strongly advised to seek legal assistance from our solicitors.

• Absolutely yes.

• As long as you are 18 years old or above, you may make a Will.

• The fee of making a Will is not high. You can amend or make a new Will in the future if necessary.

• Also, another benefit of making a Will is to avoid the extra fee in making an application for the Letters of Administration.

• No.

• However, it is strongly advisable to seek assistance from a solicitor to make a Will for you. A Will is a legal document. The distribution of your estate depends on this single document. The High Court of Hong Kong will, therefore, adopt a stringent review process when reading this document.

• There are certain formalities of making a Will. The formalities become more rigorous when it comes to the elderly or mentally incapable persons making a Will.

• To reduce the chances of people challenging the validity of your Will in the future, it is highly recommended that you should seek legal advice when making a Will