Resource information
This Act, consisting of ten Sections and one Schedule, applies to Peninsular Malaysia only and makes provision in matter of land family ownership as follows: The distinction between wives and husbands in terms of the distribution of the estate of an intestate to the surviving spouse was repealed. Previously, a wife who survived her husband was entitled to only one-third of her husband’s estate but the surviving husband was entitled to his wife’s whole estate (13). Section 6 explains how the property of any person who dies intestate shall be distributed: i. the surviving spouse is entitled to the whole of the estate if the deceased leaves no issue and no parent or parents; ii. the surviving spouse is to be entitled to one-half of the estate and the parent or parents to the remaining one-half, if the deceased leaves no issue but a spouse and a parent or parent; iii. the child is entitled to the whole of the estate, if the deceased leaves issue but no spouse and no parent or parents; iv. the surviving parent or parents are entitled to the whole estate, if the deceased leaves no spouse and no issue; v. the surviving spouse are entitled to one-third of the estate and the issue the remaining two-thirds, if the deceased leaves a spouse and issue; vi. the surviving issue is entitled to two-thirds of the estate and the parent or parents to the remaining one-third, if an intestate dies leaving no spouse but issue and a parent or parents; vii. the surviving spouse is entitled to one-quarter of the estate, the issue to one-half and the parent or parents to the remaining one-quarter, if the deceased leaves a spouse, issue and parent or parents; viii. if there are no spouse, issue or parents, the whole estate of the intestate is held on trusts for the following persons in the following order: the brothers and sisters in equal shares; the grandparents; the uncles and aunts in equal shares; the great grandparents in equal shares; finally, the great grand uncles and great grand aunts in equal shares (17).
