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"In all, the provisions in this Amendment Bill will improve the efficiency in the operation of the TPB and the TPAB.
"Action is now in hand to prepare another amendment bill to make the planning system more open and accountable to the public.
"Amendments will include provisions to streamline procedures and to adopt a planning certificate system," the spokesman said.
End/Friday, November 3, 1995
Changes to bring inheritance laws more up to date
A number of important changes recently made to the laws of inheritance have come into force today (Friday).
The commencement notices of the Wills (Amendment) Ordinance 1995, the Intestates' Estates (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 and the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Ordinance are gazetted today.
A spokesman for the Home Affairs Branch (HAB) said the ordinances, which were enacted in July, aimed to bring the laws on inheritance up to date and to remove legal anomalies that have emerged over the years.
He also said HAB had published a bilingual leaflet to introduce to the public the main contents of the three ordinances.
The Wills Ordinance sets out the legal rules governing wills and several major changes are explained in the leaflet.
One of the key changes is that a will of a Chinese person written in Chinese after the amendments take effect no longer enjoys the previous exemption from the statutory rules on making wills.
The Intestates' Estates Ordinance provides for the distribution of the estate of a person who dies without making a will or whose will deals with only part of his or her estate.