Andrew - David Wong & Ong

On the court record

The firm's record illustrates the golden rule and the assessment of testamentary capacity in contentious probate, and the gateways under Order 11 governing the court's jurisdiction over foreign third parties.

Andrew - David Wong & Ong appears in the corpus as counsel in probate, commercial and jurisdictional litigation, argued in the High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) and the Court of Appeal (Mahkamah Rayuan).

A notable matter concerns contentious probate. Acting for the respondent, the firm appeared where a grant of probate was resisted by a caveat, and the court considered whether the dispute was suitable for summary disposal under Order 71 rule 38 of the Rules of Court 2012 or should proceed as a contentious probate action, and whether the caveators had raised genuine triable issues on testamentary capacity. The testator had suffered a stroke with left-sided paralysis and executed the will some years later; the attesting solicitors gave evidence of capacity, while a subsequent medical report suggested partial capacity and the caveators had obtained an ex parte order under the Mental Health Act 2001 after the will. The court addressed the golden rule, the failure to obtain a medical examination before execution, and whether a subsequent deterioration could retroactively vitiate capacity.

The firm also appeared in commercial litigation. Acting for respondents in an appeal, it was engaged in a dispute over a settlement agreement and supplementary agreement met by allegations of fraud, coercion, intimidation and undue influence, where much of the argument concerned compliance with the filing rules of the Rules of the Court of Appeal 1994. In a further matter, acting for the defendant, it appeared where the court examined whether it had jurisdiction over third parties residing outside Malaysia under the gateways in Order 11 of the Rules of Court 2012 and section 23(1) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964, holding that it lacked jurisdiction over foreign third parties whose subject matter did not fall within a gateway. The firm's record is a probate-and-commercial litigation practice engaging both the substance of testamentary disputes and questions of jurisdiction and procedure.