Private Client Services
Sri Lankan domestic legal services covering wills, powers of attorney, property, family matters, notarial work, and closely held personal advisory support.
II · Overview
How we approach services.
This page is best placed under Our Practice because it reflects a core Sri Lankan domestic offering for individuals, families, non-resident Sri Lankans, and closely held local businesses needing personal legal support rather than purely contentious representation.
AW Chambers assists with wills and testamentary matters, powers of attorney, trusts, gift deeds, title verification, deeds of transfer, partition work, lease documentation, and family-law issues requiring care, discretion, and practical execution in Sri Lanka.
Notarial work carries a formality in Sri Lanka that clients from other jurisdictions often underestimate. Deeds, powers of attorney and testamentary instruments must be executed and attested in the manner the Notaries Ordinance requires, and a defect in execution is rarely curable by later agreement. It tends to surface at the moment the document is finally needed.
Succession is governed by the Wills Ordinance alongside the general law, with personal law applying to some families in matters of inheritance and matrimonial property. Testamentary proceedings follow to give effect to a will or to administer an intestate estate. Establishing what the estate consists of is usually harder than establishing who is entitled to it.
For clients abroad, most of this can proceed without a return to Sri Lanka. A properly drawn power of attorney, executed and authenticated correctly in the country of residence, allows property transactions, estate administration and litigation steps to continue here — provided the instrument is drafted for the specific acts intended; a general authority is frequently refused for the very transaction that matters.
The practice also extends to company secretarial support for SMEs, affidavits, statutory declarations, and notarial authentication where documentation must be properly prepared, executed, certified, or registered for use before authorities, banks, courts, and foreign embassies.
III · Index of Services
What we handle.
Drafting of Last Wills and codicils
Representation in testamentary proceedings and estate administration
General, special, and irrevocable powers of attorney
Powers of attorney for non-resident Sri Lankans
Private family trusts and charitable foundations
Gift deeds for inter-family property transfers
Title verification and land-registry due diligence
Deeds of transfer and partition of ancestral or commercial land
Condominium, residential, and commercial lease agreements
Matrimonial matters including divorce, judicial separation, and maintenance
Adoption and child custody proceedings
Affidavits and statutory declarations
Company secretarial services for local SMEs
Notarial authentication for government, banking, and embassy use
IV · Representations
We have acted for those who require discretion.
Individuals and families
Estate beneficiaries and executors
Property owners and purchasers
Non-resident Sri Lankans
Local SMEs requiring secretarial or notarial support
V · Connected Writing
Insights, in context.
VI · Common Questions
Questions we are often asked.
- What happens if someone dies without a will?
- The estate passes according to the rules of intestate succession, and an administrator must be appointed through testamentary proceedings before assets can be dealt with. It is slower and more expensive than administering under a will, and it removes any choice about who takes the task on.
- Why does the execution of a deed matter so much?
- Because the Notaries Ordinance prescribes how deeds are executed and attested, and a defect in that process can undermine the instrument itself. These problems surface late — on a sale, a mortgage, or a succession — when the transaction depends on a document that cannot easily be re-executed.
- Can a power of attorney be prepared for a Sri Lankan living abroad?
- Yes. Non-resident Sri Lankans commonly grant a power of attorney so that property, banking, and family matters can be handled at home. The document should be executed and attested so that it is accepted by banks, the Land Registry, and other authorities.
- Is a will necessary, and how is one made valid?
- A will lets you direct how your estate passes and simplifies administration. To be valid in Sri Lanka a will must be in writing, signed, and attested as the law requires, and it is prudent to have it drawn and executed before a notary.
- Do you provide notarial authentication for documents used abroad?
- Yes. The chambers prepares and notarially certifies affidavits, declarations, and deeds for use before courts, banks, government offices, and foreign embassies.
AW
VII · Engage Counsel
Discuss your matter.
Conversations with the Chambers are confidential. We respond within one working day.
