LEGAL UPDATES – CIVIL PROCEDURE – MENTAL HEALTH – HIGH COURT FREEZES ASSETS BEFORE MENTAL CAPACITY IS DETERMINED
Can the High Court freeze a person’s assets before deciding whether he or she lacks mental capacity? In Ong Tjoei Aik Harold v Gan Siew Mui @ Gan Yook Hwa (F) & Ors [2026] 10 MLJ 115, the High Court answered yes. The Court held that, although the Mental Health Act 2001 only confers powers over a person’s estate after a declaration of incapacity, the High Court may exercise its inherent and equitable jurisdiction to grant urgent interim injunctions to preserve assets where there is a real risk of dissipation. The decision is an important authority on protecting vulnerable persons and ensuring that mental capacity proceedings are not undermined by the disappearance of the estate before the court can determine the merits.
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