Widow laments problems she faced over inheritance after husband's death

SHAH ALAM - Zainon Hussin, a 55-year old widow, is facing all sorts of problems and had to go through complex legal processes for the sake of claiming the inheritance and matrimonial property after the death of her husband.

The mother of five children who are all still in school said losing her husband was one of the most hardest challenges she had to face.

She lamented that her world became dark after realising that her late husband did not leave behind a will before he died.

"I had mixed feelings at that time. I never expected this to happen and I do not know how to solve it.

"It took me a few weeks before I decided to give permission and sign the letter of agreement allowing all savings including the extra money from the mortgage payment to be distributed to the heirs of my late husband and that includes our children, myself and his siblings.

"Although the money for the house was mine but since the house was under my husband’s name, I had to accept it.

"I had to undergo several legal processes and obtain consent from his (late husband) siblings for me to have the full rights over the house.

"Alhamdulillah, his siblings are all understanding and they agreed to help me with the process of changing the name,” she told Sinar Harian

Zainon advised the public to not take lightly matters pertaining to wills and property management and make necessary preparations.

This she explained was because after the death of the deceased, if he or she did not leave behind a will, it will complicate the inheritance distribution process.

"Those who have yet to make plans on how to distribute their properties (after their deaths), please do so immediately. We have to think about the future of those we will be leaving behind.

"There are so many examples of cases which we can learn from on property disputes and some could even lead to families breaking apart,” she said asking for people to plan ahead on inheritance distribution.