Our firm handles various Hong Kong probate and inheritance legal matters, including representing mainland residents, Taiwan and Macau residents, and overseas Chinese to apply for Letters of Administration in Hong Kong, representing clients in handling Caveat and estate litigation, and making Hong Kong wills. The legal matters that our Hong Kong inheritance lawyer team often handles for clients include: (1) application for grant of Letters of Administration or probate from the High Court of Hong Kong; (2) estate inheritance litigation, including handling caveat proceedings, probate litigation, will litigation, estate administration litigation, and litigation for and against estate; (3) drafting and making of wills (disposing mainland and Hong Kong estates), testamentary trusts; (4) Hong Kong resident inheriting mainland estates.
The legal system of estate inheritance in Hong Kong is a personal agency system, in which the estate is managed by the estate administrator, the debts of the deceased are paid, and the remaining estate is distributed to the heirs. The key step in inheriting the estate of the deceased is to apply for a Letter of Administration from the Probate Office of the High Court of Hong Kong (part of the High Court of Hong Kong). There are two types of letters of administration. One is where there is a will and an executor is appointed in the will, which is called a probate letter; the other is where there is no executor or there is no will, which is called a letter of administration. .
There may be many heirs to a deceased person’s estate. Who has the right to apply to be the inheritor? Hong Kong’s inheritance laws stipulate an order of priority. In the case of a will and an intestacy, the order of priority of the person applying for the estate is as follows. Please refer to the article “Hong Kong Estate Inheritance: The Priority of Applying for the Letter of Administration”. However, under certain circumstances, the person with the lower priority may use certain procedures to bypass the person with the earlier priority and jump in line to apply for the estate administration letter. Please refer to the document “How to bypass the person with the earlier priority and apply for the estate administration letter”. 》.
The domicile of the deceased is an important concept during the process of applying for estate administration. In the case of intestacy, if the domicile of the deceased is Hong Kong, the law of Hong Kong will determine who has the priority to apply for a letter of inheritance; if the domicile of the deceased is a foreign country or a foreign country, the law of the domicile of the deceased will be used to determine who has the priority. Determine who has priority in applying for letters of administration. But how do Hong Kong courts understand the laws of other places or foreign countries (when the deceased’s place of domicile is other places or foreign countries)? This requires the applicant to provide a foreign or foreign legal affidavit explaining this.
Residents whose place of domicile is Hong Kong, the Mainland, Taiwan or Macao inherit Hong Kong inheritance involves a number of different issues. If the deceased is a resident of Mainland China, his application involves the laws of Mainland China. Please refer to the content of the special webpage “Inheritance of Hong Kong Inheritance by Mainland Chinese Residents”. If the deceased is a Mainland resident and his domicile is generally the Mainland, the estate administration in Hong Kong requires a legal affidavit issued by a Mainland China lawyer as one of the application documents. For details, please refer to “How to Issue a Mainland China Affidavit of law in support of the application for a grant in Hong Kong?
For the legal issues involved when Taiwan residents inherit Hong Kong heritage, please refer to “Taiwan residents inherit Hong Kong heritage and apply for a letter of inheritance”; for the legal issues involved when Macao residents inherit Hong Kong heritage, please see “Legal issues when Macao residents inherit Hong Kong heritage”.
When the deceased’s domicile is overseas (not Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan or Macau), there are two different ways to apply for a probate letter in Hong Kong depending on his domicile. One is to apply for a probate letter from a foreign country. The other way is to apply for a probate letter in Hong Kong through re-sealing. For issues concerning overseas Chinese applying for inheritance letters in Hong Kong, please refer to “How Overseas Chinese Inherit Hong Kong Inheritance”.
There are many different situations in disputes and litigation related to Hong Kong estates. For example, some disputes involve not recognizing the identity of one party (illegitimate children, adopted children, de facto marriage, etc.), some involve competing for the role of estate administrator, and some involve Some involve disapproval of the way the estate is managed by the estate agent, some involve disputes about the authenticity and validity of the will, and some involve whether certain properties are the estate of the deceased, etc. Different types of disputes are handled differently under Hong Kong law. Please refer to “Hong Kong Heritage Disputes and Litigation: Types of Disputes and Different Litigation Methods”.
Often, the first step in estate disputes and litigation is to register a caveat. The notification memo is a convenient and easy-to-use tool that can serve two purposes. First, if someone applies for inheritance of the estate of the deceased, the court will notify the person who submitted the notification memo; second, when the notification memo is registered, The court will not issue a Letter of Probate, forcing the person applying for a Letter of Probate to find a way to communicate with the person who submitted the Notification Memorandum to remove the Notification Memorandum. There are two ways to resolve the matter. One is to negotiate a settlement and notify the author of the memo to withdraw the registered memorandum. The other is to decide to delete the memorandum through court proceedings. For the notification memorandum, please refer to “Hong Kong Heritage Dispute Procedure: Notification Memorandum”.
For frequently asked questions about Hong Kong estate disputes and litigation, please see “Hong Kong Estate Disputes and Litigation: Frequently Asked Questions”, and related articles can be found in “Hong Kong Estate Disputes and Litigation: Blog Articles”.
If the dispute involves a fight for the estate’s administrator, you may be interested in reading “Hong Kong Estate Disputes and Litigation: How to Bypass the Estate Administrator with Priority”.
In order to avoid inheritance disputes after death, one way is for the testator to make a will during his lifetime and make advance arrangements for the handling of the estate after death, so as to avoid having to distribute the estate in a fixed way prescribed by law after death. And you need to provide a lot of documents proving your identity relationship. How to make a will in Hong Kong? See the article “How to make a will in Hong Kong?” 》.
When a dispute arises about a will made, a common point of contention is that the testator had the mental capacity to make a will when the will was made. Therefore, when making a will, it is very important to ensure the testator’s testamentary capacity. Please refer to “How to ensure the testator’s testamentary capacity when making a will in Hong Kong”. A common measure is for a psychiatrist practicing in Hong Kong to issue a medical certificate to certify the testator’s testamentary capacity before making a will. A list of psychiatrists in Hong Kong can be found online.
Many Hong Kong people have real estate, deposits and other assets in the mainland. How do Hong Kong people make a will to dispose of these assets in Hong Kong and the Mainland? This is a very practical and important question. Is it better to make a will in the Mainland or in Hong Kong? Should I find a notary office or lawyer in the Mainland, a lawyer in Hong Kong, or can I just write it by hand at home? Most people don’t know the answer. In fact, the key issue is that when making a will, you must clearly understand the different requirements for testamentary inheritance under the laws of the Mainland and Hong Kong, so that you can consider these issues when making a will. For issues in this regard, please refer to “How do Hong Kong people Make a will to deal with assets in the Mainland? 》. For other frequently asked questions in this regard, please refer to “Hong Kong Residents Making Wills to Dispose of Mainland Assets: Frequently Asked Questions”
Another common situation is when a Hong Kong resident passes away and leaves an inheritance in mainland China. How to handle the inheritance of estates left by Hong Kong residents in the Mainland? See “How to handle cross-border inheritance between Hong Kong and the Mainland” and another more targeted article “How Hong Kong residents inherit inheritance on the Mainland”. In the process of inheritance of mainland inheritance by Hong Kong residents, if chattel inheritance is involved, according to the Mainland’s “Foreign Civil Relations Law”, the inheritance of chattels shall be determined by the law of the place of habitual residence or nationality of the deceased (decedent) to determine the right to inherit. persons and the shares entitled to inherit. Therefore, when notaries or courts in the Mainland handle Hong Kong people’s inheritance of Mainland movable property, they often require Hong Kong lawyers to issue legal opinions on inheritance rights under Hong Kong law. See “How to issue a Hong Kong legal opinion when Hong Kong people inherit Mainland estates?” 》.
Hong Kong follows the common law system, and the laws regarding wills and inheritance include common law (case law) and statutory law. Regarding wills and inheritance in Hong Kong, the main statutory laws can be found in “What are the inheritance laws in Hong Kong?” “, but the legal precedents are so vast that it is difficult to list them all.
Our Hong Kong Probate and Inheritance lawyers
For legal consultation, please contract our Hong Kong probate and inheritancelawyers is as follows:
Tel: +852 31881995 (Hong Kong), or +86 15018939249 (Mainland)
WeChat: 0085251039249, or Whatsapp: +852 51039249
Email: [email protected]