'Write a will before anything
untoward happens'
22/01/2007 NST
RAUB: Make sure you leave a will. That is the only way to stop the
increasing amount of unclaimed cash and non-cash assets now estimated at
RM40 billion.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the public, especially the
Malays, should write a will on the division of their properties before any
untoward incident happened to them.
It was reported that more than 90 per cent of Malaysians had not made a
will, the majority of them Malays.
"I hope the exposure by the media will encourage the public to write a
will," he said when asked to comment on the New Sunday Times’ front-page
article yesterday.
He said Amanah Raya Berhad had expertise in the distribution of estates but
many were reluctant to refer to the agency for advice.
The article reported that land and property accounted for about RM38 billion
of the unclaimed assets while another RM1.5 billion was with the Registrar
of Unclaimed Monies and more than RM70 million in the Employees’ Provident
Fund (EPF).
About a million land titles are also still in the names of dead people while
the amount of unclaimed money in the EPF keeps on increasing as many of its
contributors did not stipulate a beneficiary.
The money with the Registrar of Unclaimed Monies is from savings accounts
and fixed deposits in banks and financial institutions which have not been
claimed for years.
