Federal Court upholds decision voiding elderly woman’s 2011 will

The Federal Court has dismissed appeals by Amanah Raya Bhd (ARB) and the sole beneficiary of an 83-year-old woman’s 2011 will, restoring an earlier version of her will that benefits her children.

A three-member bench chaired by Justice Rhodzariah Bujang, sitting with Justices Ruzima Ghazali and Collin Lawrence Sequerah, dismissed the applications for leave to appeal by ARB and Shan Abdullah yesterday.

The court found that they failed to meet the threshold under Sections 96(a) and 97 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.

It said the proposed questions of law did not involve any general principle that was not previously decided by the Federal Court, nor matters of sufficient importance to warrant further consideration by the apex court in the public interest.

The decision leaves intact an April 23 ruling by the Court of Appeal, which by a 2-1 majority declared the 2011 will invalid and upheld the earlier will.

The dispute concerns the estate of M Subbamah, who died in 2013 after making two wills.

Her first will, executed in 1976, provided for the equal distribution of her estate among her children.

In 2011, when she was about 80, she executed a second will at an ARB office, naming one of her sons, Shan, as the sole beneficiary.

Four of her children subsequently sued ARB and Shan to invalidate the 2011 will and have the 1976 will admitted to probate.

The High Court dismissed their claim in February 2024, finding the 2011 will valid.

However, the Court of Appeal, by a 2-1 majority, reversed that decision.

In her grounds of judgment, Justice Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz found that Subbamah lacked testamentary capacity and that suspicious circumstances surrounding the preparation and execution of the 2011 will had not been satisfactorily dispelled.

Justice Lim Chong Fong agreed, while Justice Evrol Mariette Peters dissented, holding that the High Court’s findings should not have been disturbed.

Among the circumstances highlighted by Hayatul was Shan’s admission that he had brought his mother to ARB’s office and filled in the will form, which named him as the sole beneficiary.

She also noted that the will was prepared in English at Shan’s request and explained to Subbamah in Bahasa Melayu, although she was proficient in Tamil.

The judge said the 2011 will was prepared by ARB, making it incumbent on ARB, as propounder of the will, to establish Subbamah’s testamentary capacity and dispel the suspicious circumstances surrounding the document.

“The 2011 will did not revoke the 1976 will,” she said in allowing the siblings’ appeal.

The Federal Court’s move to dismiss the applications for leave allows the siblings to pursue probate of the 1976 will, under which the estate is to be shared among Subbamah’s children.

Rishwant Singh appeared for ARB and Hariz Md Yusoff for Shan, while Karin Lim, A Suppiah, Shamshul Jamil and Fatin Maisarah appeared for the respondents.

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