Last will in Indonesia is a legal instrument to distribute your assets after you pass-away. This is your preferred way to get the people you care most to inherit your assets notwithstanding any prevailing rules and regulation regarding inheritance in Indonesia. You can distribute any rights and obligations in the field of property law to your next of kin.
There are three (3) different inheritance laws in Indonesia, and you must specify one law in your last will. We have Customary Law, Islamic Law, and Civil Inheritance Law. The three laws are very different to one another. You may opt one law, regardless your religion affiliation, and once you made the choice, you must stick to it and your family members must respect your option.
As the person who sign a last will, you will be called a Testator. In order to have a valid last will, you need to comply with several terms and conditions. Some of them are simple, some of them are quite tricky. But let’s take it one step at a time. Shall we go over the rest of them?
Minimum Age
In order to be eligible to write a last will, you must at least 18 (eighteen) years old, and you’re married. This is the legal requirement that you must comply with. There’s no exception for this, otherwise your last will is challengable. Inheritance matter is for real.
In accordance with the Article of 897 of Civil Code imposed that minors, who have not reached the full age of eighteen years, are not allowed to make wills. The competence of the Testator shall be judged based on the condition that he was in at the time that the last will was made. At Wijaya & Co., we always pay attention to our clients’ case details. Please contact me should you require any further assessment regarding your valid last will in Indonesia.
The Subject Involved
The people involved in this case are the deceased with assets to distribute. He/she is called the Heiress. The other that involved in this are called the Heir. This is the people that eligible to inherit after meeting the legal requirements. The heir must be born at the time of the inheritance was opened, and he must alive.
The Capacity to Inherit
You must have legal capacity to inherit from the deceased. A person must meet the following requirements in order to eligible to receive an inheritance:
- They must have blood relationship with the deceased. They can be his child, siblings, father or mother;
- They must have a marital relationship with the deceased. They can be either a wife or a husband of the deceased.
How Can You Inherit?
There are several ways you can inherit something from the deceased. You can inherit by law by becoming yourself, or by replacing someone’s place. As a child of your parents, by law you have all the rights to inherit all your parents’ assets. You can also acting as a replacement of your parent to receive inheritance from your grandparent. This replacement capacity may only happen in the event your parent has passed-away.
You may not be the person related to the deceased via blood nor a marriage. The other way you can inherit is through a last will. The deceased must include you in his last will as one of his next of kin to receive an inheritance from him after he’s gone. There are strict terms and conditions that must be met in order to eligible to inherit via this route. The maximum you can inherit under this scheme is 1/3 after deducted with all the liabilities and expenses.
Executing Your Last Will
Following the death of the testator, the last will shall be submitted to the probate office. Probate is the proceeding of establishing the validity of a last will. In Indonesia, the government office like this called “Balai Harta Peninggalan” (BHP). The last will must be submitted to the probate office within the jurisdiction of the available inheritance is located. This board open the last will and draft minutes of the submission and the opening of the last will, and is include details therein of the condition that it is in. Thereafter be returned to the your legal representation for further execution of the inheritance.
The Article 955 of Civil Code imposed that upon the death of the testator, legal title to the properties shall devolve upon the beneficiaries named in the last will as well as the individuals to whom the law grants part of the inheritance.
My name is Asep Wijaya. Thank you for reading my posts!
