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Case Significance

A clear application of the Order 15 rule 6(2)(b) test for adding a party in contested estate-administration proceedings, where a lawful heir whose interests may be prejudiced is permitted to intervene so that the administration can be resolved completely.

This High Court decision at Johor Bahru concerns an application to intervene in estate-administration proceedings and to be appointed a joint administrator. The applicant had filed an ex parte originating summons seeking to be appointed administrator of her late father's estate; he had died in June 2024 leaving six heirs, comprising a widow, a son and four daughters. The proposed intervener — a daughter of the deceased by a former wife — applied to be added as a party (pencelah, an intervener) and, in due course, to be appointed a joint administrator (pentadbir bersama) of the estate (harta pusaka si mati, the deceased's estate). She contended that the applicant had not been honest or transparent and that there were elements of mala fide in the way the estate was being managed, while the applicant in turn questioned the intervener's credibility and opposed her joining. The court addressed whether the requirements for intervention under Order 15 rule 6(2)(b) of the Rules of Court 2012 were met. It was satisfied that they were: as a lawful heir, the intervener's rights in the administration and distribution of the estate could be prejudiced if she were shut out, the list of the deceased's assets and liabilities was in dispute, and her participation was needed for a complete resolution of the administration without prejudice to any party. The court treated the intervener's status as a lawful beneficiary, rather than the merits of the competing accusations of dishonesty, as the decisive consideration at this stage, since those allegations were themselves matters for the substantive administration to resolve. The court accordingly allowed the intervention, directed that the related cause papers be amended to add her, and ordered that the distinct question of her appointment as a joint administrator be heard together with the applicant's own summons. Costs of the application were ordered to be paid out of the estate. The judgment is a clear application of the test for adding a party in contested estate-administration proceedings.