MELAKA: When her husband died in 2013 after a long battle with cancer, housewife Aunty Yen (as she wanted to be known) never imagined what it would take just to sell her modest family home: tonnes of paperwork, endless land office hearings, and dealings with a myriad government departments.
Like many Malaysians, she and her husband, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, never thought much about estate planning or writing a will as they did not consider themselves wealthy.
The family’s only major asset under his name was their home in Jasin, which was jointly named with their eldest son.
“At that time, it never occurred to us to do anything about it,” said Yen, 77.
The family first rented out the house before deciding to sell it in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, as managing tenants turned tedious for her two children working in Singapore and Selangor.
It was then that her daughter began the process of selling the house.
Yen said the family consulted a lawyer, who advised them to manage the process themselves on the grounds that the legal fees might not be worthwhile given the property’s value.
Her daughter first had to settle the outstanding quit rent, assessment taxes and utility bills before filing an application at the Jasin district and land office for the next of kin to claim their share of the deceased’s property.
After submission of the documents, the family received a summons to attend a hearing at the land office.
“There, all three of us had to say what should happen to our share of the house, with an official recording our decision,” Yen said.
Another round of waiting followed before the family obtained the necessary order and a new title from the land office, allowing the property to be finally sold.
Yen said the process took longer as it happened during the pandemic period, when various safety and health restrictions were in place.
“My daughter had to take leave to visit and deal with various government departments,” she added.
Looking back, she believes the process would have been simpler and less time-consuming had a will been prepared earlier.
Engineer Matthew Lye, 56, from Ipoh, discovered more than RM1,000 in unclaimed money under his late father’s name when he checked the government’s eGUMIS portal recently.
“I often read news reports about the government announcing huge amounts of unclaimed money, so I usually check mine.
“Two months ago, I decided to check under my father’s name. He died more than five years ago.
“I was surprised to find utility deposits and dormant savings accounts that we were not aware of,” he said.
However, Lye said the process of preparing the necessary documents to claim the money was cumbersome.
“Looking at the kind of documents I needed to claim the money, I might just let it be,” he added.
Malaysians can check on unclaimed money through the government’s eGUMIS website.
