KUCHING, April 27: The Sarawak government has been urged to look into implementing a centralised system for the Grant of Probate and Letter of Administration in order to avoid issues of possible duplicity in the procedure of administration of estate and settling a will.
Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak member Michael Kong raised this following a case whereby a single mother with three young children encountered problems to get the authority to administer the estate upon the death of her husband.
“Sherlin (the single mother) dropped by DAP Kota Sentosa service centre seeking our assistance for her family matter. Her late husband passed away some time in late 2016 due to a heart problem.
“After his timely demise, she took up a Letter of Administration from the Serian Probate Office to administer his estate.
“But it was to her surprise that when she went to EPF (Employees’ Provident Fund Office) to do the necessary, she was told that her late husband’s brother had earlier on also attempted to access and withdraw the deceased’s EPF account by using a Letter of Authorisation issued by the Saratok Probate Office,” he explained in a statement today.
Kong, who is also special assistant to Chong Chieng Jen, added that Sherlin discovered that the brother-in-law had declared to the Saratok Probate Office that the deceased was not married and therefore took out a Letter of Administration there.
“Had she delayed the matter for a few more months, EPF would have issued the money to the brother-in-law and in doing so, deprive the rightful beneficiaries of their entitlements,” he pointed out.
Kong will be assisting Sherlin to liaise with the Saratok Probate Office to look into having the second Letter of Administration revoked accordingly.
“However, I think it is timely for the GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak government) to look into technological upgrades in terms of systems within Sarawak, other than big projects like ART (Autonomous Rail Transit) or hydrogen buses, if it is indeed serious in wanting Sarawak to become a developed State,” he emphasised. — DayakDaily
