KUCHING: The awareness of the importance of wills and trusts are still low, especially in East Malaysia, according to Rockwills International Group (Rockwills).
According to group managing director Saw Leong Aun, more than 95 per cent of people in East Malaysia still do not have a will and trust. Out of the 150,000 wills written by Rockwills to date, only 2,000 to 3,000 wills have been from Sarawak.
On wills specifically, Saw noted that the awareness was also very low 20 years ago, noting that in fact, most people did not quite understand how wills worked.
Generally, with a will, individuals can among others, decide who can be their beneficiaries, determine who, when and how much to distribute and appoint an experienced executor, such as Rockwills Trustee Bhd to administer their estate.
Individuals can also specify which asset should be used to pay their debts first, avoid administration bond and set up a testamentary trust to maintain their minor children and old aged parents.
In setting up a will, they can also prevent the splitting of assets among many beneficiaries, prevent dispute over their money and appoint the guardian of their choice.
Lastly, with wills, individuals can save cost by obtaining the Grant of Probate within two to six months, include further inherited and acquired assets, give back to charity and prevent their estate from going to the government.
Saw noted that people have always thought only the wealthy need to create wills as they themselves did not have much money on their persons.
“Now it’s different, because they understand will and trust planning is not for the rich only. It’s actually for the living people, the living family members, loved ones and the beneficiaries.
“This is because they are the ones who will receive the assets, and how you want to give them, so it’s actually planning for that,” he said.
Saw further noted that it is in fact more important for the average-income people to plan their wills beforehand. He said that normally they will have one house, some money in the bank and some investments, all of which they would want to pass to their family if anything should happen.
Through wills, it is faster because the will is already a properly completed plan. Without wills, when the family applies for the probate with the court, Saw said that it can take a longer time.
This is because among the family members, they must agree first on the distribution of the assets, and if they do not agree, then they can not apply, which causes a lot of problems and delays.
However, if there was an executor appointed, they can immediately apply for the probate which speeds up the process. Also, there would be less disputes because everything has already been stated and specified accordingly in the will.
“Today most of our customers, the clients who do wills with us are in the 30s to 40s age group,” Saw said. He noted that this is because these people in this age group are more open minded as compared to others who traditionally have the misconception and superstitions about writing wills.
It is for that reason that Rockwills constantly holds seminars to build the awareness and educate the public on the importance of having a will and trust.
In terms of the sales outlook for this year, Rockwills foresees 2015 to be a good year and expects to write about 13,000 to 14,000 wills for the whole of Malaysia.