TRACING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAW FOR ESTATE ADMINISTRATION IN WEST MALAYSIA

Abstract

The Portuguese, Dutch, and British administrations for over 400 years prior to Malaysian independence greatly influenced the structure and procedures for estate administration in West Malaysia. This is evident from the provisions of the primary statute, namely, the Probate and Administration Act 1959, which are derived from the Administration of Estates Act 1925 and procedures provided in the Malaysian Rules of Court 2012, which have been adopted mainly from the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1954 of the United Kingdom. Hence, this article seeks to trace the origins of the applicable laws to analyse the evolution and development of the law for estate administration in the Straits Settlements, Malay States and the Federation of Malaya. The discussion includes the reception of English law into the Malaysian legal system in general and in the area of estate administration and the law of succession particularly. This article adopts a doctrinal analysis by examining existing primary and secondary materials, including statutory provisions such as the Probate and Administration Act 1959, the Rules of Court 2012, the Wills Act 1959, the Small Estates (Distribution) Act 1955, the Distribution Act 1958, case laws, and other legal and non-legal literature relating to the development of estate administration in West Malaysia. This article aims to contribute significantly to the existing body of literature and information on estate administration. It is observed that foreign laws on estate administration were applied generally, and this situation persists until today, resulting in some irregularities when such laws are applied to Muslims in West Malaysia, which are not in tandem with the current needs and practicalities.