Hey there.
Your Litigation lawyer here. Entering my second year of practice, let me give you some simple tips which may help you somewhen in the future:
a) If you enter into a contract, make it written.
Though Malaysian law recognizes oral contract, however written things are much easier to prove, justify and argue whatever the way you want it be. Oral contract is so fragile and easy to be challenged and disputed, as well as hard to prove.
Make it written and executed by all the involved parties, even better, get it stamped at LHDN to make it admissible as evidence in the court later on shall there is any issues arising from the contract, and make sure each party keeps a copy of the contract or whatever name you call it, be it agreement, promise etc.
If writing is impossible, then make it documented in any way you can. Voice recording, video or picture. Whatever. Save it, dont delete it. You are entering yourself into a contract, which you have rights and responsibilities.
Dont blame your lawyers later on if you want to claim something out of the contract, but you dont even have the contract nor any proof with you.
b) Keep everything.
Dont blame women for clinging onto so many things, including the receipt in their purse. Even if you want to exchange something from the store you bought the thing, you must have the receipt with yourself as proof of purchase. Failure which you cannot exchange the thing.
Same concept.
Keep everything to prove anything. These days, bank statement will be a great help, which we can get from the bank. But it is good if you can have the record by yourself too, as sometimes requesting the statement can consume a lot of time. To prove the purchase, keep the receipt. To prove the transaction, keep the ledger. To prove the presence, keep the attendance list/picture/video. To prove the accident, keep the video recorded from phone, CCTV and any gadget.
Keep everything. Whatmore if you are getting divorce, be it civilly or at Syariah court, and say you are seeking for nafkah (maintenance) for you or your children - if you are a woman, or if you are a man - to prove that you spend such and such amount actually to rebut the amount requested by your ex-wife, then keep all the receipt/record of transactions involved for you to justify the amount.
So just keep everything. It does not necessarily mean you are the type of hard to move on.
c) Never ignore any Letter of Demands / Summon
Say that you receive a Letter / Notice of Demand from anyone for any reason. Quickly refer to a lawyer, or if you think you can handle the matter on your own, then do it - by way of replying to that letter, or maybe you can contact the party who issues the demand letter/notice. Whatmore if you receive a writ of summon.
Please refer a lawyer on what you should do. Ignoring a LOD usually allows the opponent to proceed with legal action towards you. Which most likely the next time you receive a document, it can be a writ of summon. Means that a legal proceeding has been commenced against you and your attendance (appearance)at court has become compulsory.
While LOD can be settled on your own, I afraid that when you already received a summon, you have no choice but to engage a lawyer. Rules of Court 2012 states that Memorandum of Appearance MUST be entered within 14 days after the receipt of the summon, failure which, Judgment in Default can be entered against you - for sleeping on your rights.
Judgement in default allows the judge to adjudge the case without your presence, usually allowing the other party's claim. When that happens, the scarier things may happen. The opponent may file for execution of the judgement, which may be by way of Writ of Seizure and Sale (WSS) which the opponent may get an order from the Court to seize your property and to sale it in order for them to obtain money, or alternatively - garnishee, bankruptcy/winding up (though these are said to be NOT the 'proper' way to execute the judgement) etc.
Usually all begins with a demand notice or letter. When you get that, PLEASE do not ignore that. Figure out the terms stated in that demand letter, discuss it with anyone who you think fit and possible to settle. Things will become a lot uglier if summon has been filed, usually following the demand letter.
If by any way you think the demand letter/notice is a scam, still get the legal advice from anyone you can. A high school friend, a junior, a neighbor, a cousin - who is a lawyer or randomly visit any law firm you can to consult things. Dont worry too much on the legal fee, for the consequence of ignoring the things may result to you paying a lot more in the future.
Okay?
These are among simple things that we use to take easy in our daily life, but not until a court is involved. Be careful people, 'ignorantia juris non excusat' - ignorance of law is not an excuse.
Thank you.
Regards,
Maryam Jamilah
a legal eaglet.
Disclaimer - fellow legal eaglets or BIG EAGLES who find any incorrect information here, kindly notify me. Thank you in advance.
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