Reveal costs, charges of will-making services, GPS lawmaker tells Amanah Raya

KUCHING (Aug 23): A Gabungan Parti Sarawak lawmaker has urged Amanah Raya Berhad (ARB) to reveal the costs and scale of charges for the execution of a will following the institution’s recent announcement on offering will-making services via a mobile application.

Batu Kitang assemblyman Lo Khere Chiang said the public wondered if the will-making service is free of charge, as well as the costs of transfer of the properties when the will-maker passes on.

“ARB should let us know the actual chargeable costs or scale of charges for the execution of the will and the transfer of properties in the will when the will-maker passes away.

“This information is pertinent and useful for the beneficiaries of the will as the beneficiaries are to foot the costs of execution of the estate, and some may not be able to afford it,” he said in a statement yesterday.

According to Lo, there are cases whereby ARB has acted as the executor of the will and do all the transfers of properties to the beneficiaries.

Given this, he said it is important that the will-maker and the beneficiaries be made aware of the estimated costs of execution of the will.

“My lawyer friends had looped me in that a will-maker can choose their family members to be the executor of their will. However, the will-maker needs to learn about the implication of appointing any person or body as an executor of the will,” he added.

On a related matter, Lo said a constituent approached him last year about the execution of her father’s will done at ARB.

He said ARB had appointed itself as the executor of the father’s will and that its staff told the beneficiary that she could not choose her own lawyer to execute her father’s will.

“Despite her preference to engage her own legal representation for the execution of her father’s will, ARB’s rigid policy left her with no choice but to proceed with their in-house services and to pay ARB for them.

“This inflexibility raises serious concerns about the lack of options to beneficiaries to execute the will of their loved ones, especially when more cost effective and cheaper alternatives are available,” he lamented.

As such, Lo said the beneficiaries of a will should be given the flexibility and convenience to execute the will of their loved ones without pressure, while they are already dealing with the emotional strain of losing someone.

He thus suggested that ARB provide will-makers with the option to select their own executor, especially family members.

He also demanded that ARB clearly explain and justify the premium fees charged for estate administration, ensuring beneficiaries understand what they are paying for and why.

Additionally, he said there is a need for ARB to improve communication with clients and beneficiaries, ensuring that all costs, obligations and options are fully disclosed upfront.

“ARB also needs to reaffirm their commitment to acting in the best interest of the beneficiaries, rather than focusing on revenue generation,” he added.

Lo hoped ARB will take this matter seriously given that adequate information is necessary for any customer of whatever trade to make a wise and informed decision.