One of my relatives, Sara, is a retiree, aged 62 and single. During our conversation, she shared that she has approximately RM100,000 in cash and a condominium worth RM700,000. She also spends RM2,500 a month on living expenses, which includes paying for two life insurance policies (covering critical illness and life insurance) with a combined sum assured of RM1 million.
Sara has a niece with whom she has a close relationship. Her niece currently lives with her. Sara is worried about what will happen if she falls sick in the future—who will pay for her living and medical expenses? She also mentioned that she would like to leave all her estate to her niece when she passes away, as her niece has recently started her own business and needs financial support.
Thinking from Sara’s perspective, it could become a problem if she falls sick and has to rely on her niece entirely to take care of her welfare. Life is unpredictable, and she may face the following scenarios:
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Dementia / Alzheimer’s Disease
Sara might lose the ability to access her internet banking account, withdraw money, or make any online transactions.
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Total Permanent Disability (TPD) or Comatose
Sara could become unable to manage her living and medical expenses due to an accident or a major illness that causes her to become comatose or totally and permanently disabled.
A Possible Solution
Since both of her life insurance policies include critical illness and life insurance coverage, Sara could set up an insurance trust and assign both policies to a trustee company. Sara can direct the trustee to make payments for her living, medical, and nursing expenses if she develops dementia, becomes comatose, or suffers from total permanent disability in the future.
As Sara has a close relationship with her niece and trusts her, she can also instruct the trustee to pay her niece a caretaker allowance to look after her. Additionally, Sara can name her niece as the beneficiary of her insurance proceeds in the event of her passing.
(For more information about life insurance absolute assignment, refer to my previous article: Is It Sufficient to Use a Will as Our Estate Planning Tool?.)
For her cash and property, Sara can write a Will to leave whatever cash she has at the time of her death, along with her condominium, to her niece since her niece is living with her.
You may make an appointment with our legal advisor here:
https://calendly.com/finex-and-co-legacy-advisory/tea-talk-with-legal-expert
当你不能自己照顾自己时，谁会守护你和你的资产？
我有一个亲戚，叫Sara，今年62岁，是位退休人士，现在单身。我们聊天的时候，她跟我讲，她有大概RM100,000的现金，还有一间价值RM700,000的公寓。每个月她花RM2,500生活费，这里面还包括两份保险（重大疾病和人寿保险），总保额有RM1百万。
Sara和她的侄女感情很好，现在还住在一起。不过她很担心，如果有一天她生病了，谁会帮她支付生活费和医疗费？她还讲，她希望自己百年之后，可以把所有财产留给侄女，因为侄女最近刚创业，经济上很需要支持。
想一想，Sara的担心也不是没有道理。如果她生病了，完全靠侄女来照顾，会是一个很大的负担。而且生活是充满变化的，以下这些情况都有可能发生：
失智或者Alzheimer
如果Sara不记得online banking password，自己连钱都取不到，线上转账也做不了，那怎么办？
Total Permanent Disability (TPD) 或者昏迷
因为意外或者重病，Sara可能会变成长期昏迷或者完全残疾，结果生活费和医药费都没办法自己付了。
有解决办法吗？
因为Sara有两份保险，其中包括重大疾病和人寿保险，她可以考虑设立一个 保险信托。她可以把保险转给信托公司，指示信托公司在她生病时，比如失智、昏迷或者完全残疾的时候，帮她支付生活费、医药费和护理费。
而且，Sara和侄女关系很好，她也信任侄女，所以她可以在信托中指示，每个月给侄女一笔津贴（Caretaker Allowance），让侄女帮助照顾她。而且，Sara还可以把侄女设为她保险的受益人。如果她去世了，侄女可以拿到这笔保险金。
至于Sara的现金和condo，她可以写一份 遗嘱（Will），在里面说明这些财产会在她过世后全都留给侄女。特别是现在侄女跟她一起住，这样安排就更加合适啦！
