Court: Non-Muslim out-of-wedlock child entitled to father's wealth

The Federal Court yesterday made a landmark ruling that a non-Muslim child who was born out of wedlock is entitled to inherit a portion of her deceased father’s estate.

The ruling was delivered by a three-member bench led by judge Mary Lim to a 21-year-old woman, whose father passed away without a will.

As defined in the Distribution Act 1958, Lim said the word “issue” must include a child who is related to a deceased parent by blood, regardless of the child’s legitimacy.

Online media Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported that Lim made this statement when granting an appeal from the woman, whose late father was a wealthy businessperson but was not legally married to her mother.

In the same report by the English portal, Lim said the main issue in the appeal was whether the terms “child” and “issue” in the Distribution Act were read in a non-discriminatory way in light of Article 8 in the Federal Constitution.

The ruling was unanimously held by the bench, which also consisted of Justice Hasnah Hashim and Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli.

Attempt to assert claim made in 2010

The woman, who was represented by Cyrus Das and AG Kalidas, was also granted RM50,000 in expenses by the judges.

The woman attempted to assert her claim to her share of her father’s estate in 2010.

However, the lawful wife of the deceased businessperson rejected the claim.

This prompted the woman to file a lawsuit in 2015 to seek her entitlement under the Distribution Act.

As her father died intestate (without a will), the High Court was called upon to determine the child’s legitimacy for inheritance purposes.

A declaration - that the child, who had been fathered by the deceased with another woman, was born out of wedlock and had no right to the estate of the deceased - was sought by the widow of the deceased.

The widow was represented by lawyer Loh Chang Woo.

The declaration was granted by the High Court in 2018 and in the following year, the Court of Appeal upheld it, which resulted in the present appeal.

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