Dear Need_advice,

You can go to the Marriage Reconciliation body at the National Registration Department to file for reconciliation.

If reconciliation is not possible the Department will issue a Certificate. With the Certificate you will have to see a lawyer to file the Petition for Divorce in Court.

In respect of the child, you can seek for maintenance before filing the Petition for Divorce. This would be one of the reliefs sought in the Petition.

You would have to consider issues of custody of the child and property rights, if there is any property involved.

Deborah Kaur
Advocate & Solicitor

Dear Angeline,



Based on the facts provided by you, we can conclude that you are buying the car via a hire and purchase arrangement as you have mentioned your intention to claim for the interest.



Generally, there is no provision of refund or exchange unless there is a specific warranty of quality by the car manufacturers which is common in the marketing campaign of cars today.



To support your claim in the court of law would require a lot of expert evidences. In the case of a car, unless it is grossly wrong with the car, it is unlikely you can make up for such claim.



You can explore your claim with the Consumer Tribunal however you can only claim for maximum RM10k. You may also want to continue the negotiation with the car dealer and apply pressure accordingly. Otherwise, we would recommend you to see a lawyer for their better assessment of your case.

Chris Tan Chur Pim
Advocate & Solicitor

Subject to the terms and conditions of the SPA, specifically in relation to the Vacant Possession (VP) and based on the facts provided, our observations are as follows:



1) based on the Lawyer's representation in relation to the early VP one can assumed that the VP has been delivered on 19-03-2008 on the basis that the maintenance charges to be paid by the buyer;

2) the representations by the Lawyer subsequently on 31-03-2008 is an effective re-delivery of VP back to you if the key is has already been returned to you; and

3) therefore, you can claim for the maintenance charges for that short period from 19-03-2008 to 31-03-2008.



However, this is on the basis that VP is only due for delivery upon completion of the SPA

Chris Tan
Advocate & Solicitor

1) Yes. The court can grant bankruptcy against a person even though that person cannot be found. So long as, all cause papers in the bankruptcy proceedings have been properly served (i.e substituted service namely by advertisement and service of the cause papers to your last known address).

2) No. It is better to meet the official assignee (OA). The reason for which would be highlighted in 3(a),(b) & (c) below. In addition, the OA would give some options for settlement. If you attend all meetings and pay all monthly payments you may apply for discharge as a bankruptcy, the official assignee would prepare a report outlining your track records for the past 5 years. A good report would help you in your application for discharge.

3) (a) & (b)
First, the official assignee would asses your means - your financial capabilities and commitments (liabilities).

Second, the official assignee would call you up to attend creditor meetings from time to time. During the meeting, judgment creditor(s) would ask you whether you intend to settle and how you are going to settle.

Then, the official assignee would suggest a monthly repayment (say RM200 or RM500 per month).

(c). Yes. Once you have been declared a bankrupt the official assignee would notify all banks of your status and upon which your banking accounts would be frozen with immediate effect. All monies in the accounts would then be chaneled to the official assignee for settlement purposes.

(d). A discharge can be by several means:-

i). full settlement - you may ask the judgment creditor to reduce the settlement amount (say by 5%).

ii). 5 years after being declared a bankrupt. However, a good track record (as I mentioned earlier) is required.

(e). It depends. You don't need to engage a lawyer if you know how to go about it (some information would be obtained from OA)

Joseph Lee
Advocate & Solicitor

Generally, creative works are protected under copyright. There is no registration process for copyright. What you need to do is to preserve evidence that you are the author and owner of the work.

It is also recommended that you execute a Statutory Declaration asserting your copyright. You can prepare this if you know how to. Otherwise, you can approach an IP lawyer or consultant to prepare one for you. It should not cost you more than a few hundred ringgit to get it professionally done.

You can obtain more information here -
http://www.mindvault.com.my/v2/default.asp?id=27

David Oh
Advocate & Solicitor

The judgment debt owed by the judgment debtor, unless set aside, remains a debt to which the debtor is required to pay.

The Bankruptcy Act allows the judgment creditor of a deceased debtor to present to the court a bankruptcy petition, asking from the Court for an order for the administration of the estate of the deceased debtor according to the law of bankruptcy.

The petition for administration however cannot be presented by the judgment creditor in general when proceedings have been commenced for the administration of the deceased's debtor's estate by other party. In your case, the fact that the letter of administration has been applied for may mean that the Bank (I assume the judgment creditor) may seem to be unable to petition for the aforesaid order of administration.

However, if the Bank can show to the court that the estate is "insufficient to pay its debt" [according to section 122(6) of the Bankruptcy Act 1967], it still can proceed to obtain the order of administration of the estate of the deceased debtor in bankrupty, and like consequences shall ensue as under an administration order made on the petition of a creditor.

Upon the order of administration being made, the property of the debtor shall vest in the Official Assignee as trustee to said property, and he shall immediately proceed to realize and distribute the property according to the Bankruptcy Act.

Perhaps the best foot forward at this juncture is to allow the legal representative of the deceased debtor's estate to negotiate with the bank as to mode of settlement, or to discuss with the legal representative whether the bank can prove insufficient estate to pay the deceased debtor's debt before taking the next course of action.

Wallace Wong Hur Shiaw
Advocate & Solicitor

1)Why would you sign in the 1st place if you do not understand the content of the contract? Having said that, if you signed the Agreement, it is presumably valid regardless whether it is handwritten or typed.

2)Your claim of English illiteracy has to be proven and you have to explain why you signed it despite not understanding it.

3)Yes, you should lodge a police report as prevention.

4)Yes, it will put you in a better position at trial later.

Chris Tan Chur Pim
Advocate & Solicitor

In reply to the query by Chloe Chin, we advise that she may not be able to "take over" the existing loan but she can purchase the Property and obtain a fresh loan from any financier and redeem the existing loan on the Property. The existing borrower should speak to the current banker to inform them of the proposed plan. Once redeemed, the existing borrower and guarantor will be discharged from their obligations on the current loan. She will need to bear the stamp duties on the Property transfer (which can be either by sale and purchase or transfer through love and affection) and the loan in this case.

If they allow the Property to be auctioned, she may attend the auction to try and bid for the Property. She should inform the auctioneer/banker of her intention to bid. However, there is no guarantee that she will get the Property as there may be other bidders who are successful. Furthermore, the current bank will still take legal action against the borrower for the balance amount outstanding due to them after the auction.

Soraya Jabid
Advocate & Solicitor

Dear SW,

You need to talk to your father to find out why those men came to your house in an angry manner. Whatsoever problem they have with your father, they have no right to threaten you or to search your house or to take away your belongings.

You did the right thing in lodging a police report for your own safety. If your report has stated the full facts, the police may investigate a case of criminal intimidation, trespass and robbery.

You may sue them for trespass to your house and for conversation of the items taken. You must first talk to your father to find out more facts such as the identity of those men, why, are they so angry (maybe your father owes them money) and whether your father would be prepared to take legal actions against them. If your father is with you than go ahead to make an appointment with a local lawyer.

W. S. Goh
Advocate & Solicitor