Probate in Hong Kong: Grants, Forms and the Probate and Administration Ordinance

Probate, or letters of administration

Where there is no will, the same court issues letters of administration to the person the law ranks first. Either way the document is called a grant, and the estate cannot be administered without one.

What a grant actually is

Cap. 10 section 2 defines the terms precisely, and the definitions are worth reading because families use the words loosely. Probate means a grant under the seal of the court authorising the executors named in the will to administer the testator’s estate. Administration includes letters of administration of the estate, with or without a will annexed, and an administrator is the person to whom administration is granted. A grant means a grant of probate or of administration, and a personal representative means the executor or administrator for the time being.

Section 3 gives the court jurisdiction over all matters relating to probate and administration, with power to grant, alter or revoke. Section 4 provides that every probate and every set of letters of administration is sealed with the seal of the court, and is received in evidence without further proof. Section 5 lets the Registrar of the High Court make, amend or reseal a grant in the name and under the seal of the court — which is why an uncontested application is handled by the Probate Registry rather than by a judge.

Who can apply

If there is a will, the executor applies. If no executor is appointed, or none is able or willing to act, the order of priority in rule 19 of the Non-Contentious Probate Rules (Cap. 10A) decides who may apply, working through the will to find the person entitled.

If there is no will, rule 21 of Cap. 10A sets the order. In outline it runs: spouse first; then the children of the deceased; then the parents; then brothers and sisters. A person further down the list can still obtain the grant if everyone above has died or renounced, but evidence of the death or the renunciation has to be filed with the Probate Registry.

Three practical limits apply to every application: a grant is issued to not more than four persons; at least two administrators are required where the estate involves a beneficiary who is a minor or a person entitled to an interest for life; and no one under 21 may take a grant.

The limit that surprises families: Hong Kong assets only

Section 24A of Cap. 10 treats the assets and liabilities of the deceased as those within Hong Kong only. A grant from the Hong Kong court does not reach a flat in Guangzhou, a bank account in Vancouver or a brokerage position in Singapore — each has to be dealt with under the law where the asset sits.

The Ordinance does provide for the reverse case: section 3(3) allows the court to reseal a grant made by a court of probate in a designated country or place, under Part IV. If your parent died abroad and left assets in Hong Kong, resealing is the route to ask about, not a fresh application from nothing.

The application, step by step

The procedure is set out in the Non-Contentious Probate Rules (Cap. 10A), which are subsidiary legislation under the Ordinance. The Registrar specifies the forms — the Specified Forms — under rule 2A, and the “Guide to the Specified Forms” published by the Registrar is the document that actually tells you which form fits your case.

• Complete the specified forms, and file an oath in support sworn by the applicant — rule 6. On an application for administration, the oath must state how any person with a prior right has been cleared off, and whether a minority or life interest arises.
• You may apply in person — rule 4(1) — but you must attend the Probate Registry yourself, because rule 4(9) does not allow an application by post.
• Registry staff will help with procedure, but rule 4(8) says no legal advice may be given to a personal applicant by anyone in the Registry. Choosing and completing the right forms stays with you.
• The Registrar must be satisfied by the inquiries he sees fit to make — rule 5(1) — and no grant issues within 7 days of the death for probate or administration with the will annexed, or 14 days for administration, except with the Registrar’s leave.

Court fees

Fees are payable under the Second Schedule to the High Court Fees Rules (Cap. 4D). For a death on or after 11 February 2006 the Probate Registry’s published guidance lists a $265 fee for filing the application and a $72 fee for engrossment of the grant, with no scale fee; deaths before that date carry an additional scale fee based on the sworn net value of the estate.

There is no statutory time limit for applying — a grant can be sought years after the death — but the form asks you to explain the delay, so an application made long afterwards needs a reason on the record.

What to gather before you start

The Registry cannot check the estate for you: for deaths on or after 11 February 2006 the burden of identifying the assets sits with the applicant. Assemble these first, because the forms ask for all of them.

• The original will, if there is one, and any codicil.
• The death certificate.
• A schedule of Hong Kong assets: bank and brokerage statements, MPF, property title, share certificates, with account numbers and dates of death balances.
• Proof of your own entitlement — marriage certificate for a spouse, birth certificate for a child — and evidence of any renunciation by a person with a prior right.
• Identification for every applicant, and a note of any beneficiary who is a minor or has a life interest, which changes how many administrators are required.

How this fits with the documents made in life

Probate is the death-side process; the will is the document that decides who benefits. A power of attorney has no role here — it ends on death — which is why families who prepared properly hold two different instruments. What a power of attorney in Hong Kong does covers the life-side document, and the enduring power of attorney covers the one that survives incapacity.

The gap this page cannot close is the paperwork gap: knowing where the will, the title deeds and the account statements are. The emergency documents checklist is the list to build before anyone needs it, and the readiness score is how Legaris tracks which of those are still missing.

Sources

These are the primary sources for the legal statements on this page. Read the ordinance itself before relying on any summary, including this one.

• Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10) — section 2 (definitions), section 3 (jurisdiction), section 4 (sealing), section 5 (the Registrar), section 24A (Hong Kong assets), and Part IV (resealing).
• Non-Contentious Probate Rules (Cap. 10A) — rule 2A (specified forms), rule 4 (personal applicants), rule 6 (the oath), rule 19 (priority where there is a will) and rule 21 (priority on intestacy).
• High Court Fees Rules (Cap. 4D) — the Second Schedule, which sets the court fees for a grant.
• Judiciary — Probate Registry — the Registry’s own guidance: what each grant is, who may apply, the documents, the fees and the caveat procedure.
• Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30) — how a will is made, witnessed and revoked in Hong Kong.
• Legal Aid Department — legal aid, and the duty solicitor scheme, for families who cannot pay for advice.

Where to go next

This page is general information, not legal advice. A contested estate, an estate with assets outside Hong Kong, or a will whose meaning is unclear needs a solicitor, and the Probate Registry will tell you so.

If the death has just happened and you are working out what to do in the first week, start with what happens when a parent loses capacity for the decision-making side, and this page for the estate side.