Probate Lawyer in Hong Kong
As a probate lawyyer in Hong Kong, we assisted clients all over the world to inherit estate in Hong Kong. In some cases, foreigners who used to living in Hong Kobng leave some estate in Hong Kong when they pass away. In other cases, overseas Chinese who originally emigrated from Hong Kong leave estate in Hong Kong. The issue to be dealt with is how the heirs to inherit the estate in Hong Kong. As a probate lawyer in Hong Kong, I would like to provide some advice in this article.
The Deceased’s Domicile Place at the time of Death
It is crucial to decide on the domicile place of the deceased before an application for a grant was submitted. This is becaused the domicile place of the deceased will decide on which laws to be applied for deciding on who will have priority for the application of a grant, and who be the heir of the movable estate and what pencentage of shares each heir will be entiteld to.
For example, if the deceased died domiciled in LA State of USA and left movable estate in Hong Kong, The Hong Kong court will apply the laws of USA to decide on who shall be the heir of the movable estate and what pencentage of shares each heir will be entiteld to.
For Immovable esate left in Hong Kong, Hong Kong laws will be applied to decide on who shall be the heirs of the movable estate and what pencentage of shares each heir will be entiteld to, regardless of the domicile place of the deceased.
Re-sealing a Grant or Make a New Application?
If the deceased is not domiciled in Hong Kong but domiciled overseas at the time of the death, and he left estate in his domicile place, you may consider first applying for grant from the court of the deceased’s domicile place to deal with the estate at his domicile place first before dealing with the estate in Hong Kong. This is because, once a grant of Letters of Administraion or a grant of probate is issued by the court of the deceased’s domicile place, Hong Kong court will generally follow the grant issued by the court of the deceased’s domicile place and issue a similar grant to the same administror or executor. In that situation, the administrator or executor appointed by the court of the deceased’s domicile place can apply to the court of Hong Kong for re-sealing of the overseas grant (but only limited to eight jurisdictions, i.e., the Australian states of Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia and Northern Territory of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and United Kindom). For a grant issued by other jurisdictions, it cannot be re-sealed by Hong Kong court directly, and a new grant will need by applied for in Hong Kong. But the Hong Kong court will highly take regard to the grant issued by the court of the deceased’s domicile place when deciding whom a grant will be issued to administrate the deceased’ estate in Hong Kong.
What documents you will Need?
The documents needed for an application for a grant in Hong Kong will depend on the facts of the case itself, eg. whether the deceased died testate of intestate, the deceased’s domicile place, the deceased’s marital status, whehter the deceased leave any child, what estate (movable or immovable) is left in Hong Kong, whether a grant of Letters of Administration of probate has been issued in any other jurisdiction regarding the deceased’s estate, etc. The documents needed in Hong Kong for the application are usually the documents evidencing such information as mentioned here.
If the deceased domiciled outside Hong Kong at the time of the death, you amy also need an affirmation of law issued by a lawyer from the jurisdiction of the deceased domicile place to explain to the Hong Kong court who will the the right person to be the administor under the laws of the domicile place. But if a grant of Letters of Adminitration or Probate have been issued by the court of the deceased’s domicile place, this affirmtion of foreign law may be waived as the grant of Letters of Adminitration or Probate issued by the court of the deceased’s domicile place can prove the person appointed by the the court of the deceased’s domicile is the righ person to obain a grant under its laws.
How to kick-off the Application of a grant in Hong Kong?
First, contact a probate lawyer in Hong Kong. We, Yan Lawyers, a local law firm in Hong Kong with a prabate team can assist you. You can reach us by sending an email (Email: info@cnhklawyer.com) to us. You can let us know the basic information in your email, such as:-
- whether the deceased died testate of intestate;
- what is the domicile place of the deceased;
- when and where did the deceased die? If there a death certificate?
- who are the close relatives of the deceased left behind him? any spouse, children, parents, siblings, etc. Is there any documents (such as marriage certificate, birth certificate) to evidence such relationship?
- Was any grant of Letters of Administration or Probate issued by any court outside Hong Kong regarding the deceased’s estate outside Hong Kong?
After receiving your email, our probate lawyer will then contact you to request for more information or documents, and provide quotation of fee for assisting you on the application of a grant in Hong Kong. If you agree on the fee, you will be required to sign an engagement letter and pay legal costs. After that, the the probate lawyer will draft and prpare all he applicaion documents, direct and assist you to obain all the evidential documents in support of the application, to submit the applcation to the Hong Kong probate registy of the High Court, and to answer all requisitions raised by the court for the application until a grant is finally issued to the application. The whole process take about 4-6 months or longer time depending on the acutal situation.
You have no time to come to Hong Kong for the application? Do not worry. Usually you do not need attend the Hong Kong court personally for the matter. We, as your probate lawyer in Hong Kong, will handle the case for you for all the court process. But you will need sign application documents including some affidavits for the application. If you cannot come to Hong Kong to sign the documents, we can send the documents to you so tha you can sign before a notary public at your living place. So the whole process actually can be done without you coming to Hong Kong. For KYC purpose, the probate lawyer in Hong Kong will usally take some measures to verify your identity.
For any inquiry, please do not hesitate to contact the Probate and Inheritance team of us, Yan Lawyers, by sending emails to us at info@cnhklawyer, or call our office +852 31881995.