Hongkongers urged to plan wills, power of attorney to avoid ‘a lot of hassle’ and fights between loved ones over inheritance, funerals
- Founder of legacy planning social enterprise Kim Chan says people who die without wills leave behind mess for families, which can drag out settlements for years
- Many are also unaware of legal documents such as enduring power of attorney and advance directives, which he says will be increasingly important for ageing population
After hearing stories from her friends about family members falling out over funeral arrangements, Hongkonger Jolene Yeung Sui-kuen decided to create legal documents to manage her affairs after she died.
“I have friends who can’t retrieve assets from the bank accounts of their loved ones who suffered a stroke and others who fought with their siblings over whether to have a Western or a traditional Chinese funeral because their parents didn’t explicitly say what they wanted,” the 58-year-old clerk said.
“I don’t want the same thing to happen to me. I want to tell my loved ones earlier how I want my affairs arranged after my death.”
Yeung is among the 4,000 Hongkongers who have applied for an enduring power of attorney, a document that allows decisions to be handed over to a trusted person if the applicant loses their mental capacity.
After attending a seminar last month on the importance of succession arrangements, she wrote a will, an enduring power of attorney and an advance directive, which is a medical document that allows dying patients to choose their treatments.
Less than 0.1 per cent of Hongkongers have created an enduring power of attorney, while less than 0.2 per cent have made an advance directive.
A recent study by AWEsum Care, a social enterprise that helps people make legacy planning arrangements, surveyed 400 people aged between 25 and 70 and found less than 20 per cent had penned a will.
