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Finding the right lawyer in Hong Kong for trusts and wills is crucial for securing your family's future and ensuring your assets are distributed according to your wishes. By understanding your needs, seeking referrals, assessing expertise, and prioritizing compatibility and communication, you can confidently select a lawyer who will safeguard your legacy.

Every person who has a lot of assets or property in Hong Kong certainly thinks about a lot of things in the future about how to manage these assets and property so that they can continue to be passed on to the family. One way to ensure that every asset will be distributed according to your wishes if something happens to you in the future is to make a will. A will is a legal document that serves to show someone's wishes regarding how their assets and property will be distributed after their death. The Wills Ordinance is a law that regulates wills in Hong Kong. We will explain what happens if you make a will, and what about Hong Kong inheritance law no will. Is a will necessary? It's necessary if you want to pass on your assets and property to your family or appoint a specific person and hand over everything after you die. The High Court can find out what you want for your assets according to your will, whether you want to divide them equally between close family members, friends or charities. There are many cases of disputes over the assets of someone who died because there was no will, and the High Court will deal with it in accordance with inheritance law and is called intestate (a Hong Kong resident dies without a will, there is a fake will, or the valid will has been revoked). Making a will is necessary to ensure that you want to distribute assets according to your wishes without coercion by anyone, and there are witnesses who witness that you make the will in a physically and mentally healthy condition. Although the beneficiaries of your will do not have to know when you make the will and cannot be witnesses, as long as the will is valid, someone named in the will can take care of the deceased's assets later. Is making a will in Hong Kong difficult? The Hong Kong inheritance law no will, will be more difficult to administer and the process will take longer compared to someone who has prepared a will in advance. Making a will in Hong Kong is not difficult, but you have to understand several conditions so that your will can be valid. The main conditions for a will must be in writing, signed by the testator and can only be valid if it shows a true intention of the deceased's wishes. The will maker must be physically and mentally healthy and over 18 years old. To make it easier to manage your family's will, please make a will in Chinese or English. The Wills Ordinance has a lot of important information regarding the procedures for making a will in Hong Kong. The form and signing the will must be written by the testator or other person appointed in his/her presence or in accordance with his/her direction. The validation sign is in the form of a fingerprint or signature from the testator. There must be signatures from 2 witnesses who come during the procedure. And the duties of the witnesses saw directly when the testator wrote and signed the will, and the testator saw them both sign the same will. Making a Will in Hong Kong A person named in a will needs to arrange a Grant of Probate and wait for a decision from the High Court regarding the assets they will receive. The time for managing assets varies, depending on how much property is left behind by the asset owner and how complex it is. How someone's assets are going to be distributed in Hong Kong? Dividing assets will be easy if it is written in detail in the will. But this will be different from Hong Kong inheritance law no will. You can take care of the assets of a deceased person by taking care of a Grant of Letters of Administration. The High Court will award a Grant according to the priorities written in section 4 of the Intestates' Estates Ordinance. If the deceased leaves only a spouse, without descendants, parents, brothers or sisters of the same parents, then the surviving spouse is entitled to the residuary estate (the assets minus the deceased's taxes, debts, funeral, legal and administration expenses from the estate). If the deceased leaves behind a spouse and descendant(s), whether or not survived by his/her parents or siblings, the surviving spouse gets all of the deceased's personal chattels, and a sum of HKD500,000 from the residuary estate. If after HKD500,000 has been paid and there is still remaining amount, it will be divided in half. One half will be divided to the surviving spouse, and the other half will be divided equally among the child(s) of the deceased. If the deceased leaves a spouse, parents, siblings, but no descendant(s), the parents and siblings get a share in the deceased's estate, even if their spouse survives. With rule the surviving spouse gets all of the deceased's personal chattels, a sum of HKD1,000,000 from the residuary estate, and the remaining sum would be divided in half. One half will be shared with the surviving spouse, and the other half will be shared with the surviving parent(s). If one or both parents survive, the siblings cannot get a share of the deceased's property. They will only get part of the estate if the deceased leaves no descendant(s) and no parents. If the deceased leaves descendant(s) but no spouse, the residual estate will be distributed according to the rules: divided equally among the children, and the grandchildren will not get any part of the estate. However, if a child has predeceased the person who died and left behind his own children, then the children of the child who died will take the share that should have been given to the child who died (if there is more than one person then it is divided equally). Regulations for Hong Kong inheritance law no will You can read all matters regarding the distribution of assets of someone who has died without a will in the Intestates' Estates Ordinance. Even if the deceased person does not administer the will, the High Court still has priority in accordance with inheritance law as to who is entitled to receive the assets. If there is a spouse, child, parent or sibling who is abroad or the Hong Kong resident has assets abroad, then this will be handled according to cross border. There are many possible cases such as someone who has assets in Hong Kong or vice versa. This is all regulated in the Wills Ordinance, and you need to read it in detail so that you are not confused about how to manage the estate and property of the family of the person who died. If by chance there is a person who does not have any family left in Hong Kong, and the High Court has been waiting for some time, no one has reported to obtain a Grant of Letters of Administration, then the state has the right to deal with the assets left behind or become unowned property according to with written inheritance law. There are many things that we need to know about wills, so we must immediately make a will for our family in the future. To make it easier for our family later to take care of our valid will, you need an agency to be our advisor on how to make a will in accordance with our intentions, and appoint witnesses so that the will complies with the existing provisions. SMEBrothers provides will making, consultation and professional cross-border estate notarization services to ensure that the estate can be properly managed and distributed. 💪💪   Services in SMEBro include: ✅ Estate Survey and Assessment: A comprehensive survey and assessment of the estate will be conducted to ensure that all assets and liabilities are clear. ✅ Legal process guidance: A professional legal team will assist you in completing various legal procedures required for cross-border inheritance distribution to ensure that everything is legal and compliant. ✅Careful follow-up throughout the entire process: We have professional teams from Hong Kong and Mainland China who are familiar with inheritance matters and can help you break cross-border barriers and successfully inherit your inheritance.

Making a will for your family is an important thing to do because it can ensure that your assets can be distributed according to your wishes without interference from other people. But making a will has its own laws, including in Hong Kong. For those of you who live in Hong Kong and want to know about wills, you can read this article until the end. This time we will discuss probate guidelines that you can use to find out several things about wills, things about probate, and whether you can manage the will until it is valid. What is the meaning of probate in Hong Kong? Probate means a gift under the seal of the court which authorizes the appointed executors to manage the testator's assets. Probate is the administration of a deceased state by submitting an application to the Hong Kong Probate Registry to determine whether or not the will of a deceased person exists. The legal right to deal with the deceased's estate is the 'grant of representation'. Arranging permission for a deal with the estate depends on whether or not there is a will, and whether the person in the will is willing to accept it themselves or wants it to be managed by someone other than themselves. Is probate required in Hong Kong? Probate is required for handling the deceased's estate. The person entitled to the will must have a Grant of Probate, while families who wish to manage the deceased's estate without a valid will can arrange a Grant of Representation so that the High Court can manage it in accordance with existing law. This is a legal process to manage the deceased's assets as long as the will is proven to be valid, until the property can be transferred to the beneficiaries of the will. In terms of probate guidelines in administering inherited assets, if the deceased left a Will, the executor appointed in the Will has the role of managing the deceased's inheritance. If the deceased dies without a will, then another person will take the role according to legal priority. Your lawyer can advise you about who has priority in administering the estate based on intestacy law. It is the Probate Court that will determine this. The Executor of the Will should then arrange to obtain an official death certificate, and if possible to obtain birth/marriage certificates from the family members concerned as proof of identity and relationship. If the person dies overseas leaving inherited assets either in Hong Kong or overseas, the procedures to be followed will depend on whether the country in which the person was domiciled when he or she died (and where the inherited assets that are not in Hong Kong are located) has a reciprocal legal process recognition relationship with Hong Kong. How long does probate take in HK? Probate takes a different amount of time in each case. If it's a simple case like there's a will that directly appoints one name to receive assets, or something similar, it usually takes about 5 to 7 weeks to process. Sometimes an inheritance will encounter something complicated, discussing many things about the rights and obligations of the deceased's person or how the recipient will receive their share of assets. The length of probate will be longer than average time.   Making a Will in Hong Kong   What often happens which makes probate processing take a long time is the size or complexity of the estate, and if the deceased's assets are outside Hong Kong. Reading probate guidelines like this is very important for executors, because it is the most important advice for you to take useful steps when processing a will. How long after probate is granted? It depends on the case and how complex the assets owned by the deceased's person are. Any straightforward case will also take months, because the High Court also needs to ensure complete data on the estate and property, then what the contents of the will are, such as its authenticity, and check whether there has been a revocation or challenge from someone in recent times. There is no time limit for processing a grant of probate, but you should immediately arrange a Grant of Probate or Grant of Representation before someone asks questions about the deceased's assets. If you are someone mentioned in the will, but you don't want to go to the High Court to take care of it, you can ask the agency or solicitor to take care of this, so that it complies with the probate guidelines and you can still receive the inheritance according to what is written in the will. What if a beneficiary dies before receiving his inheritance? If your descendants are the beneficiaries of your inheritance and they pass away before you, then in accordance with section 23 of the Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30), the descendants of his/her own descendant(s) will take over the assets that you should transfer for your fallen descendant. Or you can add back cup arrangements when you make a will or have an alternate beneficiary, by appointing someone else in the family besides your daughter if one day your daughter dies before you. Everything is regulated in the Wills Ordinance, so you have to study carefully what you have to take care of, what are the requirements for the validity of a will, and what if there are special cases after the will is valid. Having a solicitor or agency to advise you on your Will will be very important, so that you don't take the wrong steps in making your will, or one day if you want to change or revoke your will.  Do you feel overwhelmed by everything related to wills? SMEBrothers will help you with everything related to wills starting from the procedures for making a will, how we manage a will, what are the requirements for making a will, who has the right to be a witness when you make a will, what is in the Wills Ordinance, problems your assets outside or inside Hong Kong, etc. SMEBro provides professional cross-border estate notarization services to ensure that the estate can be properly managed and distributed. 💪💪   Services include:  ✅ Estate Survey and Assessment: A comprehensive survey and assessment of the estate will be conducted to ensure that all assets and liabilities are clear.  ✅ Legal process guidance: A professional legal team will assist you in completing various legal procedures required for cross-border inheritance distribution to ensure that everything is legal and compliant. ✅Careful follow-up throughout the entire process: We have professional teams from Hong Kong and Mainland China who are familiar with inheritance matters and can help you break cross-border barriers and successfully inherit your inheritance.

We understand that we will not take all our possessions with us after we die. Before that happens, we can make a will and distribute it to our spouse, children, or family, hoping that they can use your assets wisely later. Make the will is important in Hong Kong as a valid legal document to minimize the risk of disputes somewhere in the future. SMEBrother will provide guidance for you on several things you should know about will in Hong Kong, such as things to consider, what happens if you don't have will, etc. How to make the will Making a will require a lot of consideration, and you can consult an agency or someone who is an expert in the field so that you don't make a mistake in determining how your will is made. Make the will is necessary to reduce the risk of your family fighting over your assets, and you can make it according to your heart's wishes without any coercion from anyone. Before making a will, the main requirement is that you must be over 18 years old and physically and mentally healthy. Everything related to wills in Hong Kong is regulated in the Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30). For more details, you can read it from section 1 to the end. You can make a will by hiring a solicitor or by personal desire. The legal requirements for a will to be valid is that a will must be handwritten and signed by you. When you sign the will, there must be two witnesses who witness it directly, with the witnesses having to be over the age of 18. The witnesses cannot be a beneficiary of your will, so you have to prepare this person, who can be from the solicitor or from a family that has nothing to do with it. The will can be written in any language, but it is preferred to use Mandarin or Chinese, compared to English or other languages. This will make it easier for the will recipient to take care of it because things are not complicated, and you don't have to bring in a language expert to take care of your will in Hong Kong. To make it easier for you to make a will, the following things must be present: A will from your personal writing A will with your signature (inked thumbprint, stamped signature, initials, a name, mark of any shape) Or from other people according to the will maker's direction and presence The testator must intend to execute the will with his/her signature Sign the will with the presence of two witnesses at the same time Each witness validates and signs the will or acknowledges the signature, in the presence of the testator (but not necessarily in the presence of other witnesses). Although no form of attestation is required, it is usually more appropriate to include an attestation clause in the will Don't choose witnesses from your immediate family, because section 10 of the Wills Ordinance shows that witnesses cannot be from someone who is the beneficiary of your will or they will lose the right to handle your estate For clarity of your will, date your will before signing, and place the signature at the end of the contents of your will. The witness can sign next to yours while you and the witness seeing each other's signatures in accordance with section 5 of the Wills Ordinance What if one day you want to change the contents of the will or revoke the will for some reason? You can create a new will by taking the same steps as above to revoke the previous will. As clarity for your new will, tear up the original one to avoid any confusion or challenge to the new will. Things to consider before make the will The main thing in a will is the intention of the person making the will and the person's capacity when making the will. A Will will be valid if a testator can show their intention about the will which takes effect upon their death, and their capacity when making the will. A testator can indicate their intention by starting words in the will such as "This is the Last Will and Testament of [a name]" or hiring a solicitor to write the will. If you are blind or cannot read or write, or want someone to sign the will on your behalf, you must indicate that you approve the content of the will when signing. You can ask one of the witnesses to read the contents of the will until the matter of making the will is finished. Making a Will in Hong Kong A testator can show their capacity if they are over 18 years old and have the mental capacity to know the content of the will and agree with the content in the will. If a testator were extremely ill or mentally ill, or under medication, they need to prove that during production they were aware and agreed to the will content until a signature was added. The court requires proof that at least one medical practitioner checked the mental capacity of the ill testator before a will is valid, while witnessing the entire process. If there is undue influence or fraud is detected, then the will can be challenged. What happens when you don't make the will? The deceased's assets are distributed in accordance with the Intestates' Estate Ordinance. This means that the spouse, descendant(s), siblings, or other family members can be entitled to inheritance. There is a level of priority for someone who obtains permission to manage the deceased's person's assets using the Grant of Letters of Administration which is regulated in rule 21 of the Non-Contentious Probate Rules. Unlike you who have a will, someone you name in the Will will get a Grant of Probate. The inheritance will be arranged according to what you write and how you will divide the assets. Ensure that you can check your active will, and take care of it if you want it to be changed or revoked for some reason. Making a will is easy, but you need someone who is an expert and can guide you from the first steps of making a will until the will is valid. SMEBrother can help you with all matters regarding wills, from administration to comprehensive will consultations. SMEBro provides professional notarization services to ensure that the estate can be properly managed and distributed. 💪💪 Services include: ✅ Estate Survey and Assessment: A comprehensive survey and assessment of the estate will be conducted to ensure that all assets and liabilities are clear. ✅ Legal process guidance: A professional legal team will assist you in completing various legal procedures required for inheritance distribution to ensure that everything is legal and compliant. ✅Careful follow-up throughout the entire process: We have professional teams from Hong Kong and Mainland China who are familiar with inheritance matters and can help you break barriers and successfully inherit your inheritance.

A person will usually leave a will for their family long before they die. But if there is a special event such as someone dies without a will, then in Hong Kong the estate will be divided and managed in accordance with existing laws. Before we learn about how it is distributed when someone dies and whether there is a valid will or not, we need to know about the meaning of probate, the Probate Registry, and several cases regarding probate. Hope this article will help you regarding probate when learning more about wills in Hong Kong. What is probate meaning? Probate is a court order that authorizes one or more people to manage the deceased's inheritance in accordance with the instructions in the Will. This person is called the executor. The inheritance in question can be money in bank accounts, company shares, house, real estate, cars, and other assets left under the deceased's name. Probate is a general term for legally processing the rights in an estate. Probate is needed to handle the assets of someone who has died, especially for relatives who are not left with a will. Why was the Probate Registry established? Any inheritance issues will be regulated by the Probate Registry, and the Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap.10) delegates the authority to issue Grants to the High Court. The Registrar of the High Court is required to exercise these powers and process all applications that do not give rise to disputes. The Probate Registry has been established as an integral part of the Judiciary to assist it in carrying out its duties. What does the Probate Registry do? The Probate Registry assists the Registrar in processing applications and submitting requisitions to ensure that Grants will be awarded to the correct person according to the law. This also assists him in carrying out other functions according to law including carrying out the functions of Official Administrator. Everyone who wants to take care of a will left by one of their family members must understand the probate meaning and get probate, because for simple and straightforward cases it takes a long time, around 5 to 7 weeks on average. If the nature of the estate is complicated, the time required will be longer. Issues that need to be considered with or without a will When a person dies, there may be an estate left under the deceased's name. A Grant of Representation from the Probate Registry of the High Court must be in place to administer the deceased's assets, whether the deceased has made a will or not. A Grant of Representation acts as proof that someone has the right to deal with the deceased's estate. There is always the question of which jurisdiction (the laws of which country) should regulate the administration and succession of the inheritance if there are foreign elements involved. For example, the deceased person was not a resident of Hong Kong, but left property in Hong Kong, or the deceased Hong Kong person may have owned property abroad. In general, the following rules might provide a reference answer: Succession to "immovable assets" (buildings, flats, land) is regulated by the law of the place where the assets are located. For example, if a Hong Kong resident owns a flat in the UK, the flat will usually be governed by UK succession laws after your death. The succession of “movable property” (personal effects, money, company shares) is regulated by the law of the place of domicile of the deceased person on the date of death. For example, the movable property of a deceased person who was a resident of the UK is usually governed by English succession law, wherever the property is located. The differences between estate with a will and without a will A Grant of Representation is the collective term for a Grant of Letters of Administration or a Grant of Probate. Probate meaning will be influential here, because a Grant of Probate is a Grant given to the executor (male) or executrix (female) named in the last Will of the deceased person. If there is no executor/executrix written in the Will, or there is no Will, someone who wants to administer the deceased's estate must obtain a Grant of Letters of Administration. This Grant is given to administrators who include the next-of-kin (the deceased's spouse, children, parent, uncle, siblings, etc.). Probate - Six Simple Steps in Handling and Distributing the Estate of a Deceased Person A Personal Representative is an executor/executrix or an administrator. The Personal Representative has the authority to deal with the estate, such as arranging the distribution of assets to the beneficiaries. With a will It needs to be clear for all the assets inherited from someone who has died, that the assets that will be managed or distributed must settle all debts, administration expenses, and other beneficiaries first. If the deceased person has written down who the executor/executrix is, then that is the only person who is entitled to apply for a Grant of Probate. What if the executor/executrix does not want to take up the appointment or there is no executor appointed by the deceased survivors? The person entitled to the residual legacy in the Will can apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration. Once all conditions are met, the person is entitled to the remainder of the deceased's estate. Without a will If no Will is found or the Will has been revoked, the law of intestacy will determine who is the rightful person who can apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration. There is an order of priority regulated in rule 21 of the Non-Contentious Probate Rules (Cap. 10A of the Laws of Hong Kong): surviving husband/wife or surviving partner or union of concubinage (second and subsequent wives taken during the lifetime of the first wife) entered into before 7 October 1971 Direct descendants of the deceased or any children born of a union of concubinage during the life of the first wife entered into before 7 October 1971, or descendants of the child who died during the deceased person's lifetime The parent(s) of the deceased Siblings of the deceased or descendants of the deceased's brothers or sisters who died during the deceased's lifetime. The High Court also has the authority to appoint someone who is not included in the hierarchy to manage the inheritance. This power is useful if the closest relative of the deceased, who should have the right to be appointed as administrator, is under 21 years of age or does not have sufficient mental or physical capacity to manage the estate.   Is Probate meaning confusing for you? Or do you already understand a lot about Probate and Will? Don't worry because SMEBrother will help with everything you need, starting from making a Will, managing a Will, or whatever difficulties you have regarding a Will. SMEBro provides professional cross-border estate notarization services to ensure that the estate can be properly managed and distributed. 💪💪 Services include: ✅ Estate Survey and Assessment: A comprehensive survey and assessment of the estate will be conducted to ensure that all assets and liabilities are clear. ✅ Legal process guidance: A professional legal team will assist you in completing various legal procedures required for cross-border inheritance distribution to ensure that everything is legal and compliant. ✅Careful follow-up throughout the entire process: We have professional teams from Hong Kong and Mainland China who are familiar with inheritance matters and can help you break cross-border barriers and successfully inherit your inheritance.

Each country has different intestacy laws to deal with the distribution of assets of people who passed away without a valid will. Two important keys in this regard are the Intestate Estate Ordinance (Cap. 73) and the Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30). Learning about these laws can help you in the crucial event that your loved one dies intestate. The goal of these laws is to ensure a fair distribution of the deceased's estate among relatives. This article will discuss how assets will be divided, and what relatives can do to manage them. Intestate Estate Ordinance in Hong Kong According to the Intestates' Estates Ordinance (Cap. 73) when a person dies while not executing a will in Hong Kong, then the estate of that person will be distributed and that person is called an intestate in this case. There are many possibilities for someone not taking care of a will while they are alive, due to sudden illness, being away from relatives, new marriages, or various other personal reasons. If there are relatives who suddenly want to take care of the inheritance of someone who has died, and after checking it turns out that person has never made a will, then they must obtain a Grant of Letters of Administration from the Probate Registry. Those who are entitled to apply for the Grant of Letters of Administration for inherited assets are the people regulated in rule 21 of the Regulations. There are highest priorities starting from a surviving spouse, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles and aunts. Those who are able to obtain a Grant of Letters of Administrations are able to deal with the estate in accordance with the Intestates Estates Ordinance. After arranging for the funeral of the deceased and obtaining the Grant of Letters of Administration, the administrator must settle any debts, expenses, and collate all the assets of the deceased. Now, the estate will be distributed to the beneficiaries in accordance with section 4 of the IEO, and will be explained below. Entitlement on Intestacy If there is only the spouse, no children/grandchildren of the deceased, parents, full siblings or children/grandchildren of full siblings, then the entitlement arrangement is handed over to the surviving spouse. If there is a spouse and children/grandchildren of the deceased and other immaterial relatives, the surviving spouse gets personal chattels and half of the residual estate and HK$500,000. The other half for statutory trust (refer to the Intestate Estate Ordinance) for the surviving children/grandchildren. For the spouse and one or more of the relatives such as parent or full sibling or children/grandchildren of full sibling, the surviving spouse gets personal chattels, half of the residual estate, and HK$1,000,000. The other half for the surviving parents or on statutory trusts for the full siblings. For no spouse and only children/grandchildren of the deceased, the entitlement arrangement is all for the surviving children/grandchildren on statutory trust. For no spouse, no children, only parents, all rights go to parents. If there are only full siblings, no spouses, children, or parents, all rights go to full siblings on statutory trusts. The law will continue according to who the recipient is, and who the remaining family is. For half siblings, grandparents, full uncles and aunts, half uncles and aunts, it will be handed over according to the administrator on statutory trusts. Especially for someone who has no relatives at all, everything will be taken care of by the Hong Kong Government as unowned property. Distribution of Estates (resume) The distribution of an intestate's estate will be sorted according to priority, starting from spouse and children, then parents, full siblings, half siblings, grandparents, full uncles and aunts, half uncles and aunts, and so on. If the remaining people in the family are a spouse and children, the spouse gets household items or personal chattels, HK$1,000,000 in cash, and part of the remaining property. The children will share the other half. If the deceased person only has a spouse without children, the spouse gets personal chattels, HK$1,500,000 in cash, and half of the remaining estate. The remainder of the estate will be divided between the deceased's surviving parents or surviving siblings. That order will continue to be repeated according to priority, unless there are special conditions where the person who died has no relatives at all, and the price will be managed by the Hong Kong Government as unowned property. Do you know the procedure of inheritance in Hong Kong? In case of inheritance, a legal personal representative must be appointed to manage the inheritance. This representative, known as an administrator, is usually the highest ranking relative according to inheritance rules. Administrators must apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration from the High Court Probate Registry before they can deal with the deceased's assets as we discussed above. Conclusion The intestate estate ordinance in Hong Kong provides a systematic approach to dividing the estate of a deceased person in the absence of a valid will. However, these laws may not reflect the deceased's personal wishes when creating their own will. Immediately make a will for your beloved family, because we can provide comfort for the family in the future, and also ensure that there is no will in your name that has been registered and could be considered fraud. Therefore, it is always advisable to seek professional legal advice and consider making a will and how assets will be divided according to one's wishes. Making a will is complex and there is a lot to take care of. Even though we already know the intestate estate ordinance, we still don't know exactly what we need to prepare to make a valid will. Knowing this, you need SMEBrother as your one stop solution for everything regarding wills. SMEBro provides services including: ✅ Estate Survey and Assessment: A comprehensive survey and assessment of the estate will be conducted to ensure that all assets and liabilities are clear. ✅ Legal process guidance: A professional legal team will assist you in completing various legal procedures required for inheritance distribution to ensure that everything is legal and compliant. ✅Careful follow-up throughout the entire process: We have professional teams from Hong Kong and Mainland China who are familiar with inheritance matters and can help you break cross-border barriers and successfully inherit your inheritance.

You have assets and property in Hong Kong, and you want to arrange a will for your family in the future. Making a legal document such as a will is necessary in Hong Kong, because there are certain laws to indicate a person's wishes for distributing their assets and property after their death. The laws applicable to a will in Hong Kong are set out in the Wills Ordinance. This article will explain how to make and sign a will, what inheritance law is, how to contest a will, and how it can be revoked. Reasons to making a will The will gives each individual the opportunity to decide how their assets are distributed. You can draw up a will document by yourself, but it is better to ask a specialized legal aid for advice when discussing the division of assets, and how to make it from the start. The distribution of property after a person dies is carried out in accordance with the Inheritance Law Cap. 481 of the Laws of Hong Kong. This law will help the Court to dictate how the assets will be distributed among certain family members. A will can specify how the assets will be inherited by the beneficiaries, and can state the deceased's choice regarding executors, and guardians to their children under the age of 18. Writing a will in Hong Kong can be complicated, especially for someone who wants to make a special distribution for their assets. You can seek assistance in these matters through agencies that are experts in their fields if you find it difficult to arrange a will from the start. Wills can change how assets are divided among relatives (other than as provided by state law) and allow individuals to also allocate some assets to non-necessary beneficiaries, such as friends or charities. In these situations, where the deceased has not had the opportunity to leave a will, the assets are distributed in accordance with the Intestates' Estate Ordinance. This means that the spouse and descendants or descendants and siblings of the deceased can be entitled to inheritance. You can draw up a will yourself or with an agency for a detailed explanation of which assets can be distributed, and adapt it to your case. Signing a will The will is only valid if it shows a true reflection of the deceased's wishes, must be left in writing and signed by the testator. To avoid further complications, the will must be written in Chinese or English. A will in Hong Kong will protect an individual's wishes and intentions, and can avoid the application of laws and regulations governing the distribution of inherited assets. The Wills Ordinance provides important information about how to sign and testify a will to make it valid. There are four important conditions that you must pay attention to: The form and signing of the will must be done in writing either by the testator or another person, either with the person concerned present or according to their direction. Validation is done with the testator's signature, and the will can only be valid if the testator does intend to give a sign. Signing a will needs to be attended by more than 2 witnesses and present during the procedure. The witness has the duty to authenticate and sign his/her own will, or acknowledge that the testator's signature is witnessed by him/her, and does not need to submit this acknowledgment to other witnesses. Witnesses may not be beneficiaries of the will. It is best for you to ask the agency for help regarding the requirements for appointing witnesses. The heir must understand and comply with legal formalities, so that the will can be valid and not be considered invalid due to non-compliance. A will must be dated before it is signed, and the testator has the right to change or revoke the will during his or her lifetime, and any changes must be signed by the testator. A will that is executed according to the applicable provisions is valid without needing to be announced. What is inheritance law in Hong Kong? Inheritance laws in Hong Kong abolished estate tax in 2006 so there is no tax on gifts or wealth. Hong Kong laws apply equally to residents and non-residents and regardless of religion or gender. Therefore, there are no restrictions on who the deceased inherits property from, with the special condition that they are over 18 years old. The main Hong Kong laws relating to inheritance and succession are: Wills Ordinance, Intestates' Estates Ordinance, Inheritance Ordinance, Probate and Administration Ordinance. Wills Ordinance is the main law relating to wills, contains the definition, types of a will, annulment, conditions for validity, etc. The Inheritance Ordinance allows the court to issue an order that the assets of a deceased person be given to certain members of the person's family and to certain dependents of the deceased person. The Probate and Administration Ordinance is a law regarding probate and administration letters and how to handle the inheritance of deceased people through these letters. And matters relating to the distribution of intestates' estates are in the Intestates' Estates Ordinance. How do I revoke a will? The inheritance law in Hong Kong allows a person to revoke a will for several situations, such as marriage, the existence of another will, written revocation, and destruction. The testator can create another valid will document, and make the old will invalidated. A will may be revoked because of the testator's marriage, but it may also be that the testator wishes to marry and intends that the disposition will not be revoked. Without a will, how will the inheritance be inherited? A will can be revoked by means of a written and legally signed revocation, or the testator chooses to destroy the document, either directly or by ordering another person in front of him with the intention of revoking the will. A will cannot be revoked simply on the assumption that such intention existed. You can ask the agency for a more detailed explanation about what situations allow someone to revoke a will, and are there conditions where the will still exists even though there are conditions such as the testator remarrying or so on. What is the procedure for making a will in Hong Kong? If the heirs are dissatisfied with their relatives' decision to inherit the inheritance, they have the possibility of making a will in Hong Kong. To distribute the property of an individual with or without a will, you must obtain a Grant of Representation from the Probate Registry of the High Court of Hong Kong. This document can be used by a certain individual to have authority to distribute the assets of the deceased. A person's heirs can raise legal grounds to contest a will, if they have been denied their right to their inheritance and believe they have been wronged or if its provisions do not satisfy them. Some of the most common reasons for contesting a will in Hong Kong are lack of testamentary capacity (the testator was not yet 18 years old when created the will, or elderly individuals who do not have the capacity to execute the will), the will was not executed properly, lack of number of witnesses, fraud or forgery. If you believe that the will that has been made is not in accordance with the law, you can ask an expert to analyze the case and determine the legal grounds for contesting a will. The importance of taking care of a will requires you to study it in detail, as well as an agency that is ready to help you with processing a will, understanding the laws that apply in Hong Kong, or important matters such as revoking or contesting a will. SMEBrother is the solution for careful follow-up throughout the entire process: We have professional teams from Hong Kong and Mainland China who are familiar with inheritance matters and can help you successfully inherit your inheritance. You can ask us about anything related to wills, and SMEBrother team is always ready to take care of your will needs.