The following information will also be required in Singapore:

As there is now script less (i.e. no physical share certificates) trading of shares in Singapore, – meaning the shares are in electronic form. These costs are realtively minor.

If there are shares held in Singapore quoted companies, then we will need to write to CDP and Singapore Stock Exchange to confirm the ownership and amount of such shares and the value as at date of death, for which the local lawyers will need a Letter of Authorisation (which we will prepare) signed by the executor /administrator to do so, as such details are confidential. The same applies if the deceased had any bank accounts in Singapore.

Our brokers can sell any Singapore shares on your behalf and account to you direct for the net proceeds of sale. You need to be careful in Singapore as there are board lots involved (i.e. minimum amounts by which the shares may be bought or sold) and therefore you cannot sell a particular number of shares to suit the beneficiaries or the deceased’s estate. This can sometimes create problems, and it does not apply if an odd number of shares is inherited as brokers will usually hold these shares until a new board lot of shares can be made up from odd shares of other shareholders in the company concerned.

Once the resealing of a foreign Grant has been completed in Singapore such foreign Grant has the same effect in Singapore as a locally issued fresh Singapore Grant.

If the value of the deceased’s assets in Singapore are less than S$50,000 (about £25,000) then under a non court procedure to deal with estates without a Grant, the Public Trustee may at its discretion if there is no application for letters of administration undertake to administer an estate, but this does not apply to when foreign Grants have been resealed in Singapore.

If you need our help, then once we have an idea of what will be involved, we will give you a fixed quote for the cost of doing the work. We operate on a fixed fee basis, although if extra unanticipated work is involved, we may ask for a review. The disbursements are likely to be minor miscellaneous charges – such as £50 to cover postages including overseas postages; the printing costs of £35; the costs of the sealed and certified copy of the Grant – HMCTS for £10; Notarial fees and the cost of the Apostille also have to be taken into account, but these will be paid by the Executors direct to the Notary.

Remittance of monies

HSBC is particularly difficult, and they may even refuse to transfer the monies in the deceased’s accounts from the accounts to the local law firm, and instead insist upon sending the monies to a local branch of HSBC in the UK for the Executors but the account must be in the name of the deceased.

Once such account has been opened, HSBC will want a Close Account Request Form signed by the Executors in the UK in the presence of an HSBC authorised signatory at the local HSBC branch. The Form is then sent to HSBC Singapore for processing, and even then HSBC may want to speak to the Executors on the telephone to confirm certain estate details, and the Executors own identity documents. This is just a morass of paperwork nonsense.