Law of Wills, Intestate Succession and Provision for Deceased Persons' Families and Dependants
(HKLRC Report)
This 1990 report recommended a number of legislative changes to simplify and modernise the law of succession upon death in Hong Kong. The report had taken into account the social and legal developments that had taken place since the last comprehensive review of this area of the law in 1971.
The report recommended that the formal requirements for making a will should be relaxed. In addition, the report recommended there should be a provision that wills which are not validly executed under the proposed relaxed requirements may nonetheless be admitted to probate if they are in writing, signed by or on behalf of the testator, and are intended to have testamentary effect. The report also recommends a number of less fundamental amendments to the Wills Ordinance to remove anomalies that the existing legal provisions had created.
As far as intestate succession is concerned, the report's recommendations included proposed increases in the amounts payable to a surviving spouse, and a recommendation that these amounts should be reviewed every five years.
The report's recommendations were implemented by the Wills (Amendment) Ordinance, the Intestates' Estates (Amendment) Ordinance, the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Ordinance in 1995, and the Law Amendment and Reform (Consolidation) (Amendment) Ordinance in 1996.
| Press Release (PDF) (MS Word) |
| Report (PDF) (MS Word) |