Legal Matters about Will
Any person being mentally sound and having reached the age of 18 may make a will to distribute personal estate in order to avoid disputes. The will would be in force when your time on earth is through.
Though you may make your will on your own, it is always advisable to consult a lawyer first, especially if you find it likely that your family members will fight over your assets. In case you insist on preparing your will by yourself, you must follow the following steps:
- Your will must be in written form;
- Your will must be signed by you;
- You must sign your will in the presence of two witnesses at the same time (preferably the witnesses should be aged 18 or above);
- Your witness may also be your executor(s). But they, or their husband or wife, cannot be a beneficiary of your will or else they will lose the right to receive from your estate (section 10 of the Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30));
- The two witnesses must sign your will in your presence;
- For the sake of clarity, you should date your will before you sign it and you should sign it at the end of the contents of your will. Meanwhile, your witness should, before they sign your will, first state next to your signature that you sign in their presence and that they sign in your presence (section 5 of Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30).
If you want to amend your will after you have made it, you may do so according to section 13 of Wills Ordinance (Cap.30). You may make a new will by taking the same steps as above and stating in it that you cancel the previous will. If you just want to cancel your original will and do not want to make a new one, you may take the same steps as above and simply state that you cancel the original will. For the sake of clarity, no matter whether you are making a new will or just canceling the original, you should tear up the original one to avoid any possible confusion or challenge to your new will.
Before making your will, the following points may be taken as a basic reference and state in your will.
- Funeral Arrangements
- Personal items
- Too young a beneficiary or disabled beneficiary
- Your beneficiary unfortunately passes away before you do
- Medical certification
You should keep your will properly after you make it. Safer ways would be to make your will through a law firm or keep it in a bank safety deposit box. When your time on earth is through, your executor could easily retrieve your will from your law firm.
Acknowledgments Source: http://www.s100.hk/tc/ (Chinese Version Only)
Registration of death, funeral and burial arrangements
食物環境衛生署 – “辦理身後事須知"小冊子 (Chinese Version Only)