Imagine being entitled to an inheritance worth about $150 million but you can’t touch it for over a decade because the family has yet to go about finding all the assets that will be shared among the beneficiaries.
This sums up the predicament of a wealthy family here that went to court, not to fight over who is entitled to what, but who should take over the long-delayed process of distributing the inheritance.
The task is likely to be daunting because no one person in the family has a clue about the complete list of assets, which include properties, stocks and cash in Singapore and overseas, let alone knows the exact value of each item.
The patriarch of the family had amassed such wealth because he ran a successful hardware business and was a shrewd investor.
His only fault was not letting his family know the full extent of his assets and where he had invested his funds. When he died, everything just went to his widow.
And when the matriarch died in 2012, her final will stated that all the assets should be shared equally by only the males in the family – her three sons and the eldest grandson. Her five daughters received nothing.
She named her eldest daughter, who is her first child, as the executor of her final will. In her previous will, it was stated that she would be paid $100,000 for the work.
Her second son was also named an executor of his late mother’s final will.
On paper, everything looks good, but the reality is far from perfect because the distribution cannot be carried out until someone cleans up the financial mess.
After waiting for over a decade, patience ran thin for the eldest son, 69, who went to court to get himself appointed as the executor. He argued that the current executors, his eldest sister, 75, and second brother, 61, should be sacked for failing to perform their duties “with due diligence and speed”.
The eldest daughter came across as an “honest and well-meaning” person, but the High Court found that she did not seem to know what she had to do. She tried contacting her sisters five years earlier to get the details of the inheritance since they oversaw the family’s assets during an earlier dispute.
But none of them helped her, claiming they were “busy” and “unable to do so” and she had not heard from them since. She added that she was not comfortable with writing to chase them for answers, noting that they are her siblings.
Although the eldest daughter did not have as much “vigour” as she showed in clawing back the family’s assets during the earlier dispute, the court found that she could still prove useful since she could reach out to her sisters to trace the family’s assets.
She might not have performed her duty as an executor diligently, but the court noted that she had no personal gain as she was not a beneficiary.
As for the second brother, the court noted he had done nothing to speed up the distribution process despite being one of the beneficiaries. For instance, he did not even know the value of the family’s bungalow, which is probably the most valuable asset.
Then High Court Judge Choo Han Teck noted that the second brother had also been managing much of the assets.
“There is no excuse in not administering the estate diligently. After so many years, the executors are unable to even provide a full list of the assets, let alone the valuation,” he added.
In the end, the court appointed the eldest brother as the executor and relieved the second brother of his duty. The eldest daughter was retained as executor due to her close relationship with the other siblings.
The case presents two important lessons on legacy planning that everyone should know.
Recently, a wealthy man tried to keep his ex-wife from having a bigger share of his cash by claiming his savings were accumulated before the marriage and thus should not be included for sharing.
But he could not support his claim because his money was kept in about 50 accounts in different banks, and he was unable to obtain his old statements from all these banks.
If you keep funds and assets in many places, you need to consider how your beneficiaries can locate these assets after your death.
If you are wealthy, it is not prudent to keep your finances under wraps because you are merely going to send your family on a treasure hunt, especially if you are also tardy with paperwork.
Just remember that banks and public-listed companies have no obligation to voluntarily help to distribute your assets to your beneficiaries unless they serve these entities with court papers to do so.
This means there is a possibility your hard-earned money will not go to your beneficiaries if they are not aware that such assets exist.
So you either have to list such assets properly in your will or engage the banks to help you create trust accounts to take care of your beneficiaries.
If you have stocks and assets overseas, you may also want to deal with them while you are still around because some countries impose hefty inheritance taxes that can cost your beneficiaries dearly.
But not all assets are tedious to deal with. When a Singaporean or resident dies here, the CPF Board will be automatically notified and it will take steps to get in touch with the nominated beneficiaries within 10 working days.
It will then guide them on how to withdraw the savings from the deceased’s CPF account.
It makes sense to name one or more of your beneficiaries as executors of your will since they have vested interests to ensure that the distribution of assets will be done promptly.
To be fair to the executors in this case, they did not deliberately stall the distribution process for over a decade.
They could not start the process because they had problems in locating and dealing with their parents’ assets. Even during the court hearing, the siblings were bickering over possible hefty taxes that might be incurred on their parents’ overseas investments.
When the matriarch died, her eldest daughter was 62, while the eldest son was 56. Due to the delay in managing her assets, the two current executors are now 75 and 69.
While many seniors at that age are still capable of handling financial affairs, it would have been better for everyone in that family to just enjoy their golden years happily and comfortably without having to endure vexing paperwork and legal proceedings.
Finally, this case presents a stark reminder to all parents that this is the kind of pain you will inflict on your beneficiaries if you fail to keep your personal affairs in order.
You might think they should be grateful since you are leaving them a decent inheritance. But any generous gift will be more appreciated if it can come without the agony of costly legal tussles.
After all, you would want to be remembered as a loving and thoughtful parent, not one who is very sloppy in managing your own assets.
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