Probate, Intestacy, Executor: A Plain-Language Glossary

Administrator. The person appointed by the court to manage a deceased person's estate when there is no Will, or when the named executor is unable or unwilling to act.

Unlike an executor, an administrator is not chosen by the person who died. The court appoints them based on a statutory order of priority, typically the surviving spouse first, then children, then other relatives. Their authority begins only from the date the court issues the Grant of Letters of Administration, not from the date of death. That gap matters: it is the period during which nobody has legal authority to touch your assets. A Will with a named executor removes it.

Assets. Everything you own: property, bank accounts, investments, vehicles, business interests, MPF, and personal belongings.

Your assets are what your estate is made of. Not all of them pass through your Will: assets held in joint tenancy pass to the surviving joint tenant automatically, and MPF passes through your estate but cannot be directed to a beneficiary by name. Everything else is distributed either by your Will or by the intestacy rules in Cap. 73 if you have no Will.

Beneficiary. A person or organisation named in your Will to receive something from your estate.

You choose your beneficiaries. You decide what each one receives: a specific item, a sum of money, or a share of whatever remains after debts are paid. Without a Will, Hong Kong law decides who receives your estate instead. The people you would have named may receive nothing.

Bequest. A gift of a specific item or sum of money left to someone in a Will.

This is where our name comes from. A bequest is not just a legal transaction, it is a deliberate act of care. It is the Will's way of saying: I thought of you, and I made sure you were provided for. Bequests can be anything from a flat to a piece of jewellery to a donation to a charity.

Bona Vacantia. A Latin term meaning ownerless goods: what happens to your estate if you die with no Will and no eligible relatives.

If you die intestate and the court exhausts the full hierarchy of relatives under Cap. 73 without finding anyone entitled to inherit, your entire estate passes to the Hong Kong Government. The government has discretion to make payments to any dependants you left behind, but no legal obligation to do so. It is the most extreme outcome of dying without a Will, and it is entirely preventable.

Codicil. A separate document that amends or adds to an existing Will without replacing it entirely.

A codicil must meet the same signing and witnessing requirements as a Will. It is typically used for minor changes: adding a beneficiary, changing an executor, updating a specific gift. For more significant changes, it is usually cleaner to make a new Will entirely. Marriage automatically revokes your existing Will, so a codicil cannot save a pre-marriage Will.

Dependant. A person who relies on you financially and may have a legal claim against your estate even if they are not named in your Will.

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Ordinance Cap. 481, certain people (including spouses, former spouses being maintained by the deceased, children, and others) can apply to the court for financial provision from your estate if your Will (or the intestacy rules) does not make reasonable provision for them. A Will does not eliminate this possibility, but it gives you much more control over how provision is made and to whom.

Estate. Everything you own at the time of your death, minus your debts.

The net estate (what is left after your funeral costs, administration expenses, and all debts are paid) is what your beneficiaries actually receive. A large estate on paper can produce a much smaller net estate if there are significant liabilities outstanding. Your executor distributes the net estate, not the gross figure.

Executor. The person you name in your Will to take legal responsibility for your estate after you die.

Your executor collects your assets, pays your debts, and distributes what remains to your beneficiaries. Their authority begins from the moment of your death. They apply to the court for a Grant of Probate, which formally authorises them to act. You can name up to 4 executors under the Probate and Administration Ordinance Cap. 10. The person you choose matters enormously, see our full article on choosing an executor.

Grant of Letters of Administration. The court order that authorises someone to manage a deceased person's estate when there is no Will or when the named executor cannot act.

This is the intestacy equivalent of a Grant of Probate. It is more complicated to obtain, takes longer, and gives authority to whoever the court appoints rather than whoever the deceased would have chosen. Until the grant is issued, the estate is frozen. Nobody can access bank accounts, sell property, or distribute anything.

Grant of Probate. The court order that formally authorises your named executor to administer your estate.

You cannot touch an estate (not a bank account, not a property) without either a Grant of Probate or a Grant of Letters of Administration. The probate grant is faster and simpler to obtain than a letters of administration grant, because the Will already names the executor and sets out the deceased's wishes. This is one of the most practical reasons a Will matters: it makes the process significantly faster for the people you leave behind.

Guardian. The person named in your Will to take on parental responsibility for your minor children if you die.

Only a Will can legally name a guardian. Without one, a court decides who raises your children if both parents are gone. The guardian you name in your Will steps in only when no surviving parent is alive to take responsibility, it does not override a surviving parent's rights. You should speak to the person you intend to name before putting their name in your Will.

Intestacy / Dying Intestate. Dying without a valid Will, or with a Will that does not cover all of your assets.

When you die intestate, your estate is distributed according to the Intestates' Estates Ordinance Cap. 73, a fixed formula that has no knowledge of your relationships, your wishes, or your circumstances. Unmarried partners receive nothing. Step-children who have not been legally adopted receive nothing. The formula does not ask what you would have wanted. A Will is the only way to answer that question yourself.

Joint Tenancy. A form of co-ownership where both owners hold the whole property together, and when one dies, the survivor automatically inherits the deceased's interest.

Joint tenancy operates outside your estate. It does not pass through your Will and is not subject to the intestacy rules. The moment one joint tenant dies, the other becomes the sole owner by operation of law. This is the most common ownership structure for married couples who buy property together in Hong Kong. If you want your share to go to someone other than your co-owner, you would need to sever the joint tenancy first.

Legacy. A gift of money or property left to someone in a Will.

Legacy and bequest are often used interchangeably, but legacy more commonly refers to a cash gift and bequest to a specific item. Both are valid Will provisions. Both lapse (meaning they fail) if the named beneficiary predeceases the person who made the Will, unless the Will contains an anti-lapse clause directing where that share goes instead.

Letters of Administration. See Grant of Letters of Administration.

Net Estate. What remains of your estate after all debts, funeral costs, taxes, and administration expenses have been paid.

Beneficiaries receive their share of the net estate, not the gross estate. If you leave behind a property worth HK$8 million and a mortgage of HK$5 million, the net value of that asset to your estate is HK$3 million, not HK$8 million. Your executor pays the debts first. Distribution comes after.

Personal Representative. The legal term for whoever is responsible for administering your estate, whether that is an executor (named in your Will) or an administrator (appointed by the court).

This is the umbrella term used in HK legislation including the Probate and Administration Ordinance Cap. 10. Both executors and administrators are personal representatives with similar legal powers. The key difference is how they get there: an executor is chosen by you; an administrator is chosen by the court.

Probate. The legal process by which the court verifies your Will and grants your executor the authority to administer your estate.

Probate is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It is the standard process for any estate involving a Will. The Probate Registry of the High Court processes the application, verifies the Will, and issues the grant. It cannot be initiated until at least 7 days after death. The process is faster and less complicated with a Will than without one.

Probate Registry. The office within the Hong Kong High Court that processes all applications for grants of probate and letters of administration.

This is where your executor files the application, submits the original Will, and obtains the court's authorisation to act. It is a government office, not a legal firm. For straightforward applications, it can be approached directly. For more complex estates, a solicitor typically handles the filing.

Residuary Estate. Everything left in your estate after specific gifts have been given out and all debts have been paid.

Think of it as the rest of everything you own. Your Will should always name who receives the residuary estate: the person or people who get whatever is left after everything else is done. If your Will does not address the residuary estate, or if the person named to receive it predeceases you, that portion may fall into a partial intestacy and be distributed under the Cap. 73 rules instead of your wishes.

Tenancy in Common. A form of co-ownership where each owner holds a defined, separate share of the property.

Unlike joint tenancy, there is no right of survivorship in a tenancy in common. When a tenant in common dies, their specific share forms part of their estate and is distributed according to their Will or, if they have none, under the intestacy rules. Your co-owner does not automatically inherit your share. This gives you more control over who receives your share on death, but it makes having a Will more important, not less.

Testator. The person who makes a Will.

Under Hong Kong law, a testator must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind at the time the Will is made. The Will must be signed in the presence of 2 independent witnesses who are both present at the same time. A witness cannot be a beneficiary: any gift to a witness, or to their spouse, is void, though the rest of the Will remains valid.

Trust. A legal arrangement where assets are held by one person (the trustee) for the benefit of another (the beneficiary).

Trusts are often used in wills to manage assets for children who are too young to receive them directly. Rather than handing an 18-year-old a significant inheritance outright, your Will can direct that the assets be held in trust by a named trustee until the child reaches an age you specify, 21, 25, or another age that makes sense for your family. The trustee manages the assets in the beneficiary's interest until then.

Trustee. The person or institution responsible for managing trust assets on behalf of a beneficiary.

Your trustee can be the same person as your executor, or a different person entirely. Trust companies licensed under the Trustee Ordinance Cap. 29 can also act as trustee. Choose someone who is financially organised, impartial, and likely to outlive you long enough to see the trust through.

Will. A legal document in which you set out how your assets should be distributed after you die, who should manage that process, and who should raise your children if they are still minors.

A Will must be in writing, signed by you in the presence of 2 independent witnesses who are both present at the same time, and signed by those witnesses in your presence. That is it. The process of making the Will (deciding what goes where, to whom, and in whose hands) is the part that takes thought. The document itself is the end result. (Source: Wills Ordinance Cap. 30)