Estate Planning Checklist for Hong Kong Families: Assets, People, and Documents in One Place

Most Hong Kong families do not need a complicated estate plan. They need one document that accounts for what they own, names the people they trust, and can be found when it is needed.

Assets

• Estate assets include real property, chattels, bank accounts and company shares, plus pension interests and policies. If a policy names the deceased, the administrator collects its insurance money; if it names someone else, it is outside the estate. Under section 158 of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622), ask the company to register the representative — appointment alone does not.
• Outside the estate: joint-tenancy property passes to the surviving joint tenant; nominated property, including a stated pension benefit, passes to the nominated person; life insurance written in trust pays the named beneficiary. For MPF and other pension schemes, refer to the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority.
• At death, the law of the country of domicile governs movable property, including shares and bank money; the law where land sits governs land.

People

• Confirm willingness. Section 39 of the Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10) requires an executor to be over 21 when administering the estate; a trust corporation may serve instead of individuals. Name no more than four; multiple executors must act together. If the spouse is sole executor, consider the risk that both die in one accident.
• Use a survivorship clause to require a beneficiary to outlive the testator for a specified period, with a substitute gift if not. Without it, the commorientes rule applies when a couple’s death order cannot be determined: the younger spouse is presumed to have died later and eligible to inherit.
• Put funeral, burial or cremation wishes in the will; they may be overlooked if it cannot be found. Name personal-effect recipients, or chattels fall into residue to be sold. Make specific gifts of money, shares or real estate.
• For a beneficiary under 18, the executor must hold the share on trust; a later vesting age such as 21 or 25 is a separate choice. For a disabled beneficiary, consider special trust provisions, with a trustee or guardian appointed to monitor inherited assets. A guardian for a child under 18 cannot displace a surviving legal parent. Where the will leaves a beneficiary to maintain others, settle the extent of that duty in the will itself.

Documents

• Keep the will formally executed and immediately locatable. Record its location and any safe-deposit-box access needed for prompt retrieval.
• Keep an asset-and-liability schedule, nomination and policy details, and proof-of-identity and death-registration records for the grant process. Afterwards, register the grant of representation at the Land Registry before dealing with land, present the grant to the bank, and use the section 158 company-registration process.
• Before a charity gift, verify its exact name, address and charitable status.