Distribution Act, No. 300, 1958, revised in 1983.

This Act, consisting of ten Sections and one Schedule, applies to Peninsular Malaysia only and makes provision in matter of land family ownership as follows: The distinction between wives and husbands in terms of the distribution of the estate of an intestate to the surviving spouse was repealed. Previously, a wife who survived her husband was entitled to only one-third of her husband’s estate but the surviving husband was entitled to his wife’s whole estate (13). Section 6 explains how the property of any person who dies intestate shall be distributed: i. the surviving spouse is entitled to the whole of the estate if the deceased leaves no issue and no parent or parents; ii. the surviving spouse is to be entitled to one-half of the estate and the parent or parents to the remaining one-half, if the deceased leaves no issue but a spouse and a parent or parent; iii. the child is entitled to the whole of the estate, if the deceased leaves issue but no spouse and no parent or parents; iv. the surviving parent or parents are entitled to the whole estate, if the deceased leaves no spouse and no issue; v. the surviving spouse are entitled to one-third of the estate and the issue the remaining two-thirds, if the deceased leaves a spouse and issue; vi. the surviving issue is entitled to two-thirds of the estate and the parent or parents to the remaining one-third, if an intestate dies leaving no spouse but issue and a parent or parents; vii. the surviving spouse is entitled to one-quarter of the estate, the issue to one-half and the parent or parents to the remaining one-quarter, if the deceased leaves a spouse, issue and parent or parents; viii. if there are no spouse, issue or parents, the whole estate of the intestate is held on trusts for the following persons in the following order: the brothers and sisters in equal shares; the grandparents; the uncles and aunts in equal shares; the great grandparents in equal shares; finally, the great grand uncles and great grand aunts in equal shares (17).