Disputes among family heirs hinder estate management

SHAH ALAM - Disputes among family heirs are one of the main factors that make the management of a deceased person's estate challenging to resolve, said lawyer Noorazmir Zakaria.

He cited examples of disputes arising between a deceased's wife and mother-in-law over marital property and between heirs over the validity of gifts received from the deceased.

"When issues related to gifts become a dispute among heirs, the distribution of the estate can also be delayed because the Shariah court needs to make a decision regarding the gift," he told Sinar recently.

He added that there were cases in which appointing an administrator for the estate could also lead to conflicts among heirs.

"In reality, the estate administrator is only a representative responsible for managing the estate, not for taking all the assets," he added.

Property and estate management lawyer Mariam Ramli said she had encountered issues related to "syubhah" heirs or those with questionable legitimacy, which made the distribution of assets in terms of Islamic inheritance (faraid) more complex.

"The faraid certificate focuses more on the heirs, meaning the family relationships, rather than the distribution. So it needs to be verified whether they are legitimate heirs or not," she said.

Mariam pointed out that many people still need to gain awareness of asset distribution through methods like gifts (hibah) and faraid.

This, in turn, leads to delays in the estate distribution process among family heirs.

"Cases involving wills or estate distribution can take a long time when they involve heirs who disagree with each other.

"The fastest cases are resolved within five or six months. But there are cases that can take up to two or three years," she added.