RM38 Billion Worth Of Real Estate Bequeathed To Malays Remains Unresolved, Nazri Says
10/07/2007 Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 (Bernama) -- The estate value of deceased Malaysians that remains unclaimed due to unresolved beneficiary issues has reached RM40 billion.

Of the total, RM38 billion were in form of real properties belonging to the Malays, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Aziz said Tuesday.

The rest included cash totalling RM1.8 billion being kept by the Registrar of Unclaimed Money and RM70 million with the Employees Provident Fund, Tabung Haji, Permodalan Nasional Berhad and cooperatives, he said.

In some cases, problems arose due to family disputes while sometimes the beneficiary was not aware of the existence of the estate, he said in a speech read out by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Suliman.

Nazri's text of speech was read at the Islamic Property Inheritance Convention and the launch of National Will Register at the Putra World Trade Centre here.

Nazri said the problem involved all races and could led to a prolonged family dispute. In the end, it could never be resolved due to overlapping interests, he said.

In one unresolved case, for example, 100 people were entitled to a piece of land measuring 371.6 square metres in Kampung Baru here, he said.

He said problems like this should not be left hanging because it would put the country at a loss and become a burden to the beneficiary.

The three-day convention, organised by Amanah Raya Berhad and the Malaysian Property Inheritance Association, was attended by state muftis, Syariah judges, legal practitioners and academicians.

On the National Will Register, Nazri said it would make it easy to determine whether a deceased left behind a will or otherwise.

-- BERNAMA