Probate and administration

10 cases · November 2025 to July 2026

Case Volume by Year

2
25
8
26
2025–2026

Key Issues & Sub-Topics

Administrator — Letters of Administration — Letters of Administration De Bonis Non — Estate administration — Unadministered estate — Immovable property vested in administrator — Sale of estate land — Application for previous permission of Court — Supervisory jurisdiction of Court over administrator — Statutory restriction on administrator’s power of disposition — Section 60(4), Probate and Administration Act 1959 — Purpose and scope of judicial control over sale of estate property — Whether proposed sale shown to be a proper transaction in the due administration of the estate — Principles governing exercise of judicial discretion — Relevant considerations — Expediency of sale — Sole asset of estate — Completion of long-outstanding administration — Adequacy of consideration — Market value — Sale at price exceeding estimated estate valuation — Protection of beneficiaries — Adult beneficiaries — Unanimous consent of beneficiaries — No minority interest — No unascertained beneficiaries — No opposition — No prejudice to creditors — Sale proceeds to be applied in settlement of debts and distribution of estate — Sale and Purchase Agreement — Condition precedent requiring prior Court approval — Stakeholder deposit — Unconditional Date — Balance purchase price — Extension of completion period — Interest on late completion — Protective contractual safeguards — Consequential registration orders — Instrument of transfer (Form 14A) — Registration of transfer — Directions to Land Administrator — Section 420, National Land Code 1965 — Originating Summons — Order 7, Order 71 and Order 80 rule 2(3)(d) and rule 6, Rules of Court 2012. 1 Letters of Administration — Revocation of grant — Removal of co-administrator — Section 34 Probate and Administration Act 1959 — Sufficient cause — Fiduciary duties — Breach of fiduciary duty — Estate administration — Retention of estate trust account passbook — Failure to cooperate — Welfare of beneficiaries — Appointment of substitute co-administrator — Amendment of grant — Costs 1 Grant of Representation — Probate and Administration Act 1959 — Administration of Estates Ordinance (Sarawak) — Existing grant of representation issued by Amanah Raya — Whether existing Sarawak grant precluded application for grant under Probate and Administration Act 1959 — Whether issue suitable for summary determination — Held, issue required full factual and legal examination. 1 Revocation of grant — Application under s 34 Probate and Administration Act 1959 — Whether grant may be revoked where prior appellate consent order governs administration — Whether “just cause” established — Distinction between administrator and beneficiary — Absence of misconduct or defect in grant — Application dismissed 1 Executor — Substitution of party — Death of original litigant — Whether substituted executor stands in same procedural position as deceased litigant for purposes of diligence and evidential control. 1 Grant of probate — Caveat — Summary disposal under Order 71 Rule 38 Rules of Court 2012 — Whether dispute suitable for summary determination or should proceed as contentious probate action — Whether caveators raised genuine triable issues — Testamentary capacity — Suspicious circumstances — “Golden rule” — Failure to obtain medical examination prior to execution of will — Whether such failure vitiated will 1 Testamentary capacity — Testator suffered stroke with left-sided paralysis — Will executed 10 years post-stroke — Attesting solicitors’ evidence of capacity — Subsequent medical report one year after will stating “partial capacity” — Caveators obtained ex parte order under Mental Health Act 2001 after will — Whether subsequent deterioration retroactively vitiated capacity — Suspicious circumstances — Bare allegations of forgery without expert evidence — Allegations of mismanagement of company collateral and irrelevant — Caveators withdrew related civil suit — Whether such allegations constituted suspicious circumstances 1 Estate litigation — Application for appointment of administrator pendente lite — Neutrality and independence of proposed nominee — Whether evidence relating to connection between nominee and solicitors relevant to Court’s discretion — Supervisory jurisdiction of Court over estate administration. 1 Grant of Probate — Effect of — Vesting of estate property in personal representative — Rights of executor — Duty to protect estate assets — Whether beneficiary could assert proprietary interest adverse to estate pending administration 1 Estate administration — Application for appointment of interim administrator — Ex parte originating summons — Whether mere absence of grant of representation sufficient — Requirement of urgent necessity — No evidence of imminent risk to estate — Whether interim appointment justified — Rules of Court 2012, O 15 r 6A; O 92 r 4 — Application dismissed. Civil procedure — Ex parte application — Duty of full and frank disclosure — Non-disclosure of material facts — Failure to disclose existence of other beneficiaries — Effect of non-disclosure — Whether relief ought to be refused. Evidence — Affidavits — Sufficiency of affidavit evidence — Bare assertions without documentary support — Absence of death certificate, proof of relationship and land search — Whether affidavit discloses primary facts — Evidential weight undermined. Equity — Interim relief — Discretion of court — Exceptional remedy — Absence of urgency — Balance of justice — Whether court should exercise inherent powers — Judicial restraint. Practice and procedure — Probate — Interim relief not a substitute for ordinary probate process — Proper course to apply for letters of administration — Exceptional circumstances required. 1 Removal of administrator — Letters of administration granted to surviving spouse — Alleged failure to distribute remaining assets — Delay of nearly ten years — Whether sufficient cause for revocation — Objective test — Paramount consideration being proper administration of estate — Majority of beneficiaries supporting administrator — Personal grievances not sufficient — Whether plaintiff fit to replace administrator — Section 34 Probate and Administration Act 1959 1

Letters of Administration — Revocation of grant — Removal of co-administrator — Section 34 Probate and Administration Act 1959 — Sufficient cause — Fiduciary duties — Breach of fiduciary duty — Estate administration — Retention of estate trust account passbook — Failure to cooperate — Welfare of beneficiaries — Appointment of substitute co-administrator — Amendment of grant — Costs 1 case

Executor — Substitution of party — Death of original litigant — Whether substituted executor stands in same procedural position as deceased litigant for purposes of diligence and evidential control. 1 case

Grant of probate — Caveat — Summary disposal under Order 71 Rule 38 Rules of Court 2012 — Whether dispute suitable for summary determination or should proceed as contentious probate action — Whether caveators raised genuine triable issues — Testamentary capacity — Suspicious circumstances — “Golden rule” — Failure to obtain medical examination prior to execution of will — Whether such failure vitiated will 1 case

Testamentary capacity — Testator suffered stroke with left-sided paralysis — Will executed 10 years post-stroke — Attesting solicitors’ evidence of capacity — Subsequent medical report one year after will stating “partial capacity” — Caveators obtained ex parte order under Mental Health Act 2001 after will — Whether subsequent deterioration retroactively vitiated capacity — Suspicious circumstances — Bare allegations of forgery without expert evidence — Allegations of mismanagement of company collateral and irrelevant — Caveators withdrew related civil suit — Whether such allegations constituted suspicious circumstances 1 case

Estate litigation — Application for appointment of administrator pendente lite — Neutrality and independence of proposed nominee — Whether evidence relating to connection between nominee and solicitors relevant to Court’s discretion — Supervisory jurisdiction of Court over estate administration. 1 case

Grant of Probate — Effect of — Vesting of estate property in personal representative — Rights of executor — Duty to protect estate assets — Whether beneficiary could assert proprietary interest adverse to estate pending administration 1 case

Estate administration — Application for appointment of interim administrator — Ex parte originating summons — Whether mere absence of grant of representation sufficient — Requirement of urgent necessity — No evidence of imminent risk to estate — Whether interim appointment justified — Rules of Court 2012, O 15 r 6A; O 92 r 4 — Application dismissed. Civil procedure — Ex parte application — Duty of full and frank disclosure — Non-disclosure of material facts — Failure to disclose existence of other beneficiaries — Effect of non-disclosure — Whether relief ought to be refused. Evidence — Affidavits — Sufficiency of affidavit evidence — Bare assertions without documentary support — Absence of death certificate, proof of relationship and land search — Whether affidavit discloses primary facts — Evidential weight undermined. Equity — Interim relief — Discretion of court — Exceptional remedy — Absence of urgency — Balance of justice — Whether court should exercise inherent powers — Judicial restraint. Practice and procedure — Probate — Interim relief not a substitute for ordinary probate process — Proper course to apply for letters of administration — Exceptional circumstances required. 1 case

Removal of administrator — Letters of administration granted to surviving spouse — Alleged failure to distribute remaining assets — Delay of nearly ten years — Whether sufficient cause for revocation — Objective test — Paramount consideration being proper administration of estate — Majority of beneficiaries supporting administrator — Personal grievances not sufficient — Whether plaintiff fit to replace administrator — Section 34 Probate and Administration Act 1959 1 case

Key Statutes

Rules of Court 2012
cited in 2 cases
Probate and Administration Act 1959
cited in 1 case
cited in 1 case
cited in 1 case
cited in 1 case

Court Distribution

Key People & Firms

Cases