The executor of a will is crucial in the process of collection and distribution of a deceased’s estate.

Simply put, a will is less effective if the testator fails to appoint an executor to execute his will.

In case you are looking to appoint your wife as the executor, here are the things that she will need to do.

1. Get grant of probate (GP)

When someone passes on, all his personal assets are frozen except for his life insurance policies and EPF and so, to distribute the assets to the beneficiaries, these frozen assets must be claimed first by the executor.

If your wife is the chosen one, she will first need to apply for a GP from the High Court.

To do so, she will need to prepare a list of documents including your death certificate, a list of your assets and liabilities, and the original copy of your will. She will have to engage a lawyer to assist her too.

If she can easily locate your will that clearly states what assets you owned, she will have an easier time applying for the GP.

Most often, the issue lies in locating the testator’s will and having knowledge of what assets the testator owned before he died.

For instance:

• If you rent a safe deposit box at a bank to place your will, but do not inform anyone which bank that is.
• You write a simple will stating that you wish to distribute all your “immovable and movable” assets to beneficiaries but do not clearly state what is being referred to, since it can include your personal investments into a portfolio of real estate, shares into other businesses, as well as bank accounts.

Depending on the size of the estate, this process may take some three to six months and longer if your wife fails to locate the will and your estate.

2. Reclaim assets

Once the GP is granted, your wife will be authorised to collect your assets.

However, this process can take six months to a year, as it takes time for the ownership of a testator’s assets to be effectively transferred to the executor.

3. Pay off outstanding debts and taxes

Your wife may need to advertise on leading newspapers to notify your creditors so that they can recover their credits.

She would also need to settle the outstanding amount of income tax you owed. This process of advertising, negotiating, and settling off debts and taxes could take around 12-15 months.

4. Distribute assets

Finally, your wife will be able to distribute the remaining estate to all your beneficiaries.

This entire process, from applying for the GP to distributing the estate to beneficiaries can take around two years, that too assuming there are no hiccups along the way.

So, if you appoint your wife as the executor of your will, she will have a lot on her plate once you pass on.

She must engage a lawyer, attend High Court hearings, make trips to banks, advertise, negotiate with creditors, pay tax and debts, the list goes on. And your wife will need to fulfil these while she is still in mourning.

There is also the possibility of the following situations arising when your wife can no longer fulfil her executor’s responsibilities:

• She becomes insane.
• She passes on before you or together with you.
• She passes on before obtaining the GP.
• She passes on before fully completing the tasks of an executor.

In such cases, an interested person can apply to Court for an order to “substitute” your wife as the executor.

The Court will grant the Letter of Administration with Will Annexed to allow distributing your estate to people who are viewed to be fit to administer the estate.

The person chosen will be based on the ranking order stipulated under Section 16 of the Probate and Administration Act 1957.

Thus, it is a lot more practical and convenient to elect a trust company to act as the executor of your will.

A trust company has a couple of advantages that enables it to perform estate administration works more efficiently than any individual, even if the individual is a lawyer.

In short, it is better to have a well-crafted estate distribution plan so that the financial future of your loved ones will be protected.

This article first appeared in kclau.com

Ian Tai is the founder of Bursaking.com.my, a platform that empowers retail investors to build wealth through ownership of fundamentally solid stocks. It is an essential tool that sifts out stocks that grow profits consistently from a database of over 900+ stocks listed mainly in Malaysia.