Entitlement to an intestate's estate requires being living at time of death; nephews of the intestate cannot claim through a predeceased sibling.

[1] The Appellant had filed an ex-parte Originating Summons (OS) which was subsequently amended. The Interveners applied for leave and were granted leave to intervene in the OS. The Interveners have filed an affidavit in opposition to the OS which excluded them as beneficiaries under the estate of Gan Cheng Keong (deceased).

[2] In the OS the Appellant applied for the following declaratory orders that:

(a) pursuant to subsection 6(1)(i) of the Distribution Act 1958 (the Act), only the brothers and sisters of Gan Cheng Keong (deceased) living at the time of his death was entitled to his estate;

(b) pursuant to the interpretation in subsection 6(1)(i) of the Act, henceforth the brothers and sisters who were living at the time of the death of the deceased who are entitled to equal shares of the deceased's estate namely, (i) Gan Cheng Hoe; (ii) Gan Soo Hong; (iii) Gan Soo Lian [deceased]; (iv) Gan Chang Joo; (v) Soo Lee Veerasamy; (vi) Soo May Malakuoti; and (vii) Gan Cheng Khuan;

(c) pursuant to the interpretation in subsection 6(1)(i) of the Act, the issues of the eldest brother of the deceased namely Gan Cheng Yee, who died on 27 January 1979, who predeceased the deceased are not entitled to the deceased's estate;

(d) pursuant to subsection 7(2) read together with subsection 6(1)(i) of the Act, the issue of the brothers and sisters of the deceased living at the time of his death would be entitled to the deceased's estate; and

(e) pursuant to subsection 7(2) read together with subsection 6(1)(i) of the Act, henceforth the issue of Gan Soo Lian who is the 2nd sister of the deceased who was living at the time of death of the deceased, namely Too Heng Khen, is also entitled to the deceased's estate by virtue of his late mother's share.

Facts Of The Case

[3] The Appellant/Applicant is the administrator of the estate of Gan Cheng Keong (deceased) pursuant to a Letter of Administration dated 2 June 2016. The deceased passed away on 27 March 2009. The Respondents' late father Gan Cheng Yee is the eldest brother of the deceased who had predeceased the deceased on 27 January 1979.