OUR STORY
Established for one purpose.
Lineage Foundry was founded in George Town with a clear and limited purpose: to provide legal counsel for matters of inheritance and estate planning in Malaysia. The practice does not attempt to cover all branches of law, and that deliberate narrowness is part of what it offers.
The founding of the practice arose from an observation, confirmed over years of legal work in Penang, that families approaching the legal dimensions of estate matters were often poorly served by generalist practices where these engagements competed for attention with more transactionally urgent work. Wills were reviewed briskly when the circumstances called for unhurried consideration; trusts were drafted to standard forms when the client's situation was anything but standard.
The name Lineage Foundry is intended to convey something about the nature of the work — the careful shaping of arrangements that hold across generations, done with craft and patience rather than speed.
Our practice is anchored in George Town, and we serve clients across Penang and, where the work can be conducted appropriately, from other parts of Malaysia. The majority of clients come to us through recommendation from individuals or families we have previously assisted.
We work with a small number of engagements at any one time, deliberately, so that the attention given to each client's matter is not rationed. Each new enquiry is given a personal response, and each new engagement begins with a proper conversation about what the client needs — not a form to fill.
The legal landscape governing estates in Malaysia — including the Distribution Act 1958, the Probate and Administration Act 1959, and the Trust Companies Act 1949 — is navigated carefully, in full awareness of the personal circumstances that surround every engagement.
OUR APPROACH
Three things that do not change.
Patience as a professional standard
We regard the pace of an engagement as something to be set by the client's circumstances, not by our scheduling preferences. These matters touch the most enduring of family arrangements, and they benefit from being approached without artificial urgency.
Strict confidence in all matters
The details of a family's estate are among the most private of all matters. Everything discussed with us remains within this practice, and no information is shared beyond what the client explicitly authorises.
Written clarity at every stage
We provide written summaries, updates, and explanations throughout each engagement — in language that does not require legal training to understand. A client should always know where things stand without needing to ask.
THE PEOPLE
Those who carry out the work.
Razif Halim
Principal, Estates & Trusts
Called to the Malaysian Bar in 2001, Razif has focused on estate and succession matters for over two decades. He established Lineage Foundry with the intention of practising this area of law with the depth it deserves.
Lim Tze Ying
Senior Associate, Will Review & Documentation
Tze Ying joined the practice in 2018 after several years with a Kuala Lumpur firm where her work concentrated on succession and trust administration. She manages the will review service and client documentation across all engagements.
Sharmini Pillai
Associate, Estate Administration
Sharmini works principally with personal representatives — executors and administrators — supporting them through the procedural and emotional demands of estate distribution under Malaysian law. She trained in Penang and has been with the practice since 2021.
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
How we maintain the quality of the work.
Bar Council Membership
All legal work is carried out by advocates and solicitors admitted to the Malaysian Bar and subject to the professional rules and conduct requirements of the Bar Council Malaysia.
Client Confidentiality Protocol
All client information is held under strict professional confidentiality. Files are maintained securely, and no matter is discussed outside the practice without the client's written consent.
Current Legal Knowledge
Our practice keeps abreast of developments in Malaysian succession law, including amendments to relevant legislation and significant decisions of the courts that bear on estate and trust matters.
Documentation Review Process
Every document produced by this practice is reviewed before it leaves the office. No draft is issued to a client unless it has been examined for clarity, accuracy, and consistency with the client's expressed intentions.
Professional Indemnity Cover
The practice maintains professional indemnity cover in accordance with the requirements applicable to advocates and solicitors in Malaysia, providing an additional layer of assurance to clients.
Transparent Fee Arrangements
Fees are stated plainly at the outset of each engagement. Any additional work arising from circumstances beyond the original scope is discussed and agreed before it proceeds — no charges arise without the client's prior knowledge.
A practice built for the long view
George Town holds a particular place in the legal history of the Peninsular. As a city whose families have accumulated property, business interests, and personal arrangements across multiple generations, Penang has long produced demand for careful estate counsel — work that attends not merely to the immediate transfer of assets but to the arrangements that will hold over time.
Lineage Foundry draws on this tradition while remaining attentive to the changed realities of Malaysian family life — blended families, properties held across borders, and the increasing complexity of digital and financial assets that require considered treatment in any estate plan.
The three areas of practice — will review, trust drafting, and estate distribution support — were chosen because each represents a distinct stage in the lifecycle of an estate and because each is poorly served by generalism. A family that attends to all three over time will find, at each stage, that the work receives the same quality of attention.
We work in English and Bahasa Malaysia, and we are familiar with the particular legal circumstances applicable to individuals of different personal laws in Malaysia, including the Wills Act 1959 and the relevant provisions of Islamic inheritance law where they are material to the engagement.
Enquire about beginning an engagement.
We are available to discuss your situation without obligation. A written enquiry is equally welcome if you would prefer to set out your matter in your own time before speaking with us.
Contact Lineage Foundry