June 2026
By Hubbis
This article was written by Hubbis and features the contribution of our Partner, Nicole Wee, as a panellist at the Hubbis Malaysia Wealth Management Forum 2026.
Succession planning for Malaysian high net worth families is rarely a straightforward exercise. As assets become more internationally dispersed, family structures grow more complex, and regulatory requirements tighten across jurisdictions, the role of the legal adviser has expanded well beyond drafting documents. Today, it demands a forensic understanding of family dynamics, a command of cross-border legal frameworks, and the willingness to tell clients what they may not want to hear. At the recent Malaysia Wealth Management Forum 2026, hosted by Hubbis in Kuala Lumpur, a panel chaired by Reuben van Dijk, Director at Melbourne Capital Group, brought together senior legal, banking, and advisory practitioners to examine how wealth structuring must evolve for Malaysian families. Nicole Wee, Partner at Chooi and Company, where she leads the firm’s family and private client practice, offered a methodical and practice-grounded perspective on the foundational questions advisers must address, the pitfalls that undermine even well-intentioned structures, and the duty of care that sits at the heart of effective succession planning.
Key Takeaways
- Five foundational questions must guide every succession plan: the location and type of assets, the actual family structure and beneficiary dynamics, tax and financial exposure across jurisdictions, business continuity requirements, and the distinction between fairness and equality in distribution.
- Cross-border complexity demands jurisdictional awareness, as real property is governed by the laws of the country where it is situated, and plans that are not legally enforceable in the relevant jurisdiction must be redesigned from scratch.
- Family dynamics are the substance behind every structure, and advisers must look beyond documents to understand tensions, vulnerable dependants, children from previous relationships, and the real relationships between generations.
- Control remains the most common structural weakness, with arrangements where the patriarch retains all roles as settlor, trustee, and beneficiary representing a classic failure point that advisers must challenge directly.
- Business succession is the dominant concern for Malaysian families over the next three to five years, given that family wealth remains overwhelmingly tied to operating businesses.
The Five Questions That Shape Every Plan
When van Dijk asked what key considerations Malaysian high net worth families should address when designing succession plans, particularly in the context of global assets and internationally mobile family members, Wee responded with a structured framework drawn from her practice.
“We will have clients who come to us and say, I don’t know anything. I just want this done in such a manner,” Wee said. “It is up to the advisors, whether you’re lawyer, financial planner or tax advisor or even a trustee, it’s your job to elicit information from the client.”
The first consideration, Wee explained, is the asset base: where it is situated and what type of assets it comprises. This is not a formality. Different jurisdictions impose different rules on how property is governed, how succession flows, and what probate processes apply. “You can have beautiful plans, but if it’s not legal in the country you have to start again, throw away all your plans and start again,” she warned. The implication for advisers is that jurisdictional due diligence must come before structural design, not after.
The second consideration is the actual family structure. Wee stressed that succession planning is not an abstract exercise conducted on paper. It requires a genuine understanding of the family and its beneficiaries. “Whatever you draft or whatever you put in place must actually reflect the actual family circumstances,” she said. This means accounting for tensions between generations, children from previous relationships who may otherwise be overlooked, elderly parents, and family members with special needs or vulnerabilities. “The patriarch may have a sibling who is vulnerable, or special needs, and he’s been taking care of that sibling his entire life,” Wee noted. “These are the questions as far as the beneficiaries and the family dynamics that you have to ask.”
The third consideration is tax and financial exposure. With family members resident in multiple jurisdictions and assets held across several countries, advisers must interrogate whether inheritance tax applies, whether property transfer taxes are triggered, and whether the structures being contemplated are even recognised locally. Wee cited a striking example. “I attended a talk recently where I learned that Vietnam, because it’s a civil law jurisdiction, they actually do not recognise the common law concept of a trust,” she said. For families with assets or beneficiaries in civil law jurisdictions, this insight is operationally critical.
The fourth consideration is business continuity. Where the family’s wealth is tied to an operating business, the succession plan must address what happens if the key person, typically the patriarch, passes away or becomes incapacitated. “The last thing you want is for a family’s business to dissipate or to fail, because the key person is the patriarch, and there’s no proper succession plan in place,” Wee said.
The fifth, and in many ways most sensitive, consideration is fairness. Wee drew a clear distinction between the two concepts that families most frequently conflate. “Fair and equal are not the same thing,” she said. Some children may have received the benefit of an overseas education. Others may be actively involved in the family business while their siblings are not. A child with special needs may require a disproportionate share of resources. “Do you want to give the shareholding equally to all the children?” Wee asked. The answer depends on a careful assessment of what each beneficiary has already received and what each genuinely needs.
Structures Must Work, Not Just Exist
Wee returned to the conversation later to address a recurring theme: the risk that structures are put in place without genuinely reflecting their intended purpose.
“Your structure must come alive,” Wee said, echoing a phrase used by another panellist. She cited trust arrangements where the patriarch retains control as settlor, trustee, and beneficiary simultaneously. “Those are the sort of structures at risk of being struck down,” she warned. “That is a classic example where the structure does not actually reflect the objective.”
Wee argued that advisers have a duty not simply to execute a client’s instructions but to guide the family towards arrangements that are legally sound and capable of surviving challenge. “It is up to us to also guide the way, to explain to the families what can and cannot be achieved and why,” she said. In the Malaysian context, where founders are often reluctant to relinquish control over structures nominally designed to transfer wealth, this tension between control and legal effectiveness is one advisers must navigate with both firmness and sensitivity.
Insurance as a Structural Tool
Wee also contributed a practical observation on the role of insurance in succession planning. When the panel discussed how high net worth insurance solutions can support liquidity and estate equalisation, Wee pointed to a reality particularly relevant in Southeast Asia. “Southeast Asian families, very often you have more than one family,” she noted. “Insurance is a way to actually isolate and leave specific monies or specific funds to specific limbs of the family.”
Looking Ahead: Business Succession as the Priority
When van Dijk asked each panellist to identify the single biggest focus for Malaysian families over the next three to five years, Wee’s answer was direct. “A lot of Malaysian families, their wealth is tied up with the family business,” she said. “For me, I think it’s business succession planning that I would see the next three to five years as being a major consideration.” The response encapsulated the thread running through all of Wee’s contributions: that effective succession planning begins not with structures or products but with a clear-eyed understanding of where the family’s wealth actually sits, how it is governed, and what must happen for it to survive the transition from one generation to the next. For advisers operating in Malaysia’s increasingly complex wealth landscape, Wee’s methodical, client-centred approach offers a framework that is as practical as it is principled.