LETTER of ADMINISTRATION OF HDB FLAT UPON THE DEATH OF SOLE LESSEE ORDER OF COURT REQUIRED BY HDB TO SELL THE HDB FLAT WHERE DECEASED HAS PASSED AWAY FOR MORE THAN 6 YEARS.

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LETTER of ADMINISTRATION OF HDB FLAT UPON THE DEATH OF SOLE LESSEE ORDER OF COURT REQUIRED BY HDB TO SELL THE HDB FLAT WHERE DECEASED HAS PASSED AWAY FOR MORE THAN 6 YEARS.

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  • An order of Court is usually required before the HDB flat may be sold where the
    deceased (being the sole owner of the HDB flat) has passed away for more than 6 years
    in addition to obtaining either a Grant of Letter of Administration (if deceased has not
    made a Will during his lifetime) or Grant of Probate (if deceased has made a Will but
    there is no power of sale clause in the Will).
    The relevant legislation is as follows :
    “The sanction of the court is necessary by virtue of s 35(2) of the Conveyancing and Law
    of Property Act (Cap 63) (`CLPA`) which states that no sale of land belonging to the estate
    of a deceased person shall be made by the legal personal representative(s) of that person
    after the expiration of six years from his death unless with the sanction of the court.”
    This kind of application for an Order of Court to sell the HDB flat where the Deceased
    has passed away for more than 6 years is to be made to the High Court jurisdiction of
    Singapore court and the Administrator is required to explain in his affidavit the
    reasons as to why he or she is not able to sell the HDB flat for more than 6 years
    from the death of the deceased and further exhibit valuation report of the HDB flat
    to provide the propose price of the said HDB flat to be sold. The Administrator
    may also be directed by the court to serve this application for Order of Court to
    sell the flat on all the beneficiaries so that the beneficiaries’ view can be heard by
    the court before the Court decide as to whether to allow the Order of Court to sell
    the flat.
    Unfortunately, there are not many local case law relating to section 35(2) of the
    Conveyancing and Law of Property Act (Cap 63) (`CLPA`) that one can know as to
    what amount to reasonable reason for the delay in selling the HDB flat for more than 6
    years from the death of the deceased so as to trigger the Court to grant the Order of
    Court.
    In the case of RE THE ESTATE OF SAFIAH BINTE TAHAR (1940) MLJ 285, the case law
    in this case say that Court will not grant the Order of Court to sell the property as of
    right and the Court may require to be satisfied as to the reasons for the delay in failing
    to sell the property for more than 6 years from the death of the deceased. The Court
    may require an affidavit of valuation of the property in case where there are infant
    beneficiary.
  • Reasonable reason for the delay can come from scenario where the delay in selling the
    deceased’s flat or property were due to administrators and beneficiaries have serious
    disagreement over the details of the sale of the HDB flat namely as to the price of the flat or
    administrative details of the sale which cause the delay in selling the HDB flat.
    Another scenario can also come from one of the beneficiary of the estate of the deceased
    are tenant occupying the deceased’s flat and is refusing to vacate the deceased’s flat to
    allow the sale of the said HDB flat.
    The Administrator need to provide a list of reasons for the delay in selling the deceased’s
    HDB flat to provide for legal advice as to the feasibility of succeeding in the application of
    this kind of Order.
    If the Court view the reasons for the delay in selling the flat are due to the Administrator’s
    negligence or tardy response in taking steps to sell the flat, then Court unlikely to grant the
    Order of Court to sell under section 35(2) of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act (Cap
    63) (`CLPA`) and legal cost of making such application would be wasted unnecessarily.
    In another Malaysian case of YAP YOKE LUAN V ONG WEE TOK (1982) 1 MLJ 23a
    case not directly on point to the issue of when Court will make the order of court to
    sell deceased’s property when deceased had passed away for more than 6 years but
    on the issue of what Court considers to grant order to sell in Malaysian law on Order
    for Administrator to sell the deceased’s property. In this case, the Court’s duty is to
    protect the rights of the beneficiary and not to consider the interest of the purchasers.
    Court will look into the facts and circumstances of the case and whether the proposed
    sale was favourable to the beneficiary and whether the Administrators have acted with
    proper prudence in exercising their duty to obtain the best possible price.

    For further queries, kindly please contact us:

    Raymond Lim & Co. – Location @

    #03-40 People Park Center
    101 Upper Cross Street
    Singapore 058357
    Mobile: 9760 7060
    Tel: 6222 1004
    Fax: 6222 1648

    Main E-mail  : RaymondLimCo@yahoo.com.sg 
    Other E-mail : RaymondLimWeiFeng@gmail.com

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