TRW & Co · Private Wealth & Family
Wills and Estate Planning in Singapore
Wills in Singapore decide who inherits, who manages the estate and who cares for young children. The Wills Act sets strict signing rules, marriage revokes an earlier will, and CPF savings, joint property and nominated insurance pass outside the will altogether. This guide explains the rules, the intestacy shares and how to plan so everything works together.
Key pointMarriage revokes an existing will and an existing CPF nomination, but divorce revokes neither, so many families are unknowingly intestate or still leaving assets to a former spouse.
At a glance
Age 21 and two witnesses
Under the Wills Act 1838 a will by someone under 21 is invalid, and it must be signed before two witnesses present at the same time.
Witness gifts fail
A gift to a witness or the witness's spouse is void under section 10 of the Wills Act, although the rest of the will still stands.
Marriage revokes a will
Marriage revokes an earlier will unless it was made in contemplation of that marriage; divorce does not, so a former spouse may still benefit.
CPF sits outside
CPF savings cannot be left by will; without a nomination they go through the Public Trustee's Office under intestacy or faraid rules, after a fee.
Fixed intestacy shares
Without a will, a spouse and children share half and half under the Intestate Succession Act; unmarried partners and friends receive nothing.
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What wills in Singapore do, and what they cannot do
Wills in Singapore decide who receives your property when you die, who manages your estate and who looks after your young children. Without one, Singapore law decides for you, and the result can be very different from what you would have chosen. A will is also the document your family will rely on at the most difficult moment, so it needs to be clear, valid and easy to prove.
A will has limits. It does not cover your CPF savings, which pass by CPF nomination. It does not override joint tenancy: a flat or bank account you hold jointly usually passes to the surviving owner automatically. Insurance policies with a nomination pass under that nomination. And a will has no effect while you are alive, so it does nothing if you lose mental capacity; that is the job of a lasting power of attorney.
The practical question for most families is therefore not just "do I have a will?" but "do my will, my nominations and the way I hold property all point in the same direction?" Most of the problems we see come from a gap between them.
The legal framework for wills in Singapore
For non-Muslims, the Wills Act 1838 sets the rules on who can make a will and how it must be signed. The Intestate Succession Act 1967 applies where there is no valid will. The Probate and Administration Act 1934 governs how the estate is then administered, and the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act 1966 lets certain dependants ask the court for reasonable maintenance if a will leaves them without it.
For Muslims, the Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966 applies, and the Intestate Succession Act expressly does not. Muslim estates are distributed according to Islamic inheritance law (faraid), with the shares certified by the Syariah Court.
Formal requirements under the Wills Act
Section 4 of the Wills Act provides that a will made by a person under 21 is invalid. Section 6 sets the mode of execution: the will must be in writing and signed by the testator, or by someone else in the testator's presence and at their direction, in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time, who then sign in the testator's presence.
Section 10 makes a gift to an attesting witness, or to the witness's husband or wife, void, although the will itself remains valid. Section 13 provides that marriage revokes an earlier will, except a will made in contemplation of that marriage. Divorce does not revoke a will; the Ministry of Law confirmed in 2022 that a former spouse's appointment as executor or beneficiary is not automatically affected.
Never ask a beneficiary, or a beneficiary's spouse, to witness your will. The will still works, but that person loses their gift. Use two independent adults who are present together when you sign.
What happens without a will
If a non-Muslim dies without a valid will, section 7 of the Intestate Succession Act sets a fixed order. Nobody, including the court, can change it to reflect what the deceased "would have wanted".
| Who survives | How the estate is shared |
|---|---|
| Spouse only (no children or parents) | Spouse takes everything |
| Spouse and children | Spouse takes half; children share the other half equally |
| Children, no spouse | Children share everything equally; a deceased child's share passes to that child's own children |
| Spouse and parents, no children | Spouse takes half; parents share the other half |
| Parents only | Parents share equally |
| No spouse, children or parents | Brothers and sisters share, with a deceased sibling's children taking their parent's share; then grandparents; then uncles and aunts |
| No qualifying relatives | The estate passes to the Government |
Unmarried partners, step-children who were never adopted, close friends and charities receive nothing on intestacy. Someone must also apply to court for letters of administration, which usually takes longer than proving a will. Our page on probate and estate administration explains that process.
Muslim estates, faraid and wasiat
For Muslims, faraid fixes the shares of heirs. A Muslim may make a will (wasiat), but it can generally direct no more than one-third of the estate, and that third usually goes to people or causes who are not already faraid heirs. The Syariah Court issues an Inheritance Certificate identifying the beneficiaries and their shares, which the family then uses to administer the estate. Joint tenancy, CPF nominations and insurance nominations interact with faraid in ways that have been considered by the courts, so Muslim families should take specific advice before relying on them.
What to include in a will
Executors and substitutes
Name one or two executors you trust, and a substitute in case they die first or decline. Professional executors make sense for complex or cross-border estates.
Guardians for children
Parents can appoint a guardian for children under 21. Without an appointment, the court may have to decide who looks after them if both parents die.
Specific and residuary gifts
Set out specific gifts, such as a property, shares or a sum of money, and then say who receives the residue. Most disputes arise from a missing or unclear residuary clause.
Trusts for young or vulnerable beneficiaries
A testamentary trust can hold a child's share until a chosen age, or protect a beneficiary with special needs. See our trusts and succession planning page.
Blended families need special attention. Step-children who have not been adopted have no rights on intestacy, and a surviving spouse who inherits everything can later leave it all to their own children. Well-drafted wills in Singapore for second marriages often use a trust that gives the surviving spouse income or a home for life, with the capital passing to the children of the first marriage afterwards.
Think about what happens if a beneficiary dies before you, whether gifts carry their own share of debts and expenses, and how business interests and digital assets should be handled. Our article on digital assets and succession covers passwords, exchanges and wallets.
CPF, joint property and insurance: assets outside the will
CPF savings do not form part of your estate and cannot be left by will. According to the CPF Board's nomination guidance, a nomination covers savings in the Ordinary, Special, MediSave and Retirement Accounts, the CPF LIFE premium balance and discounted Singtel shares. It does not cover property bought with CPF savings, Dependants' Protection Scheme payouts or investments made under the CPF Investment Scheme.
Without a nomination, CPF savings go to the Public Trustee's Office, which distributes them under the intestacy rules or the Muslim Inheritance Certificate after deducting a fee, a process the CPF Board says can take up to six months. You can nominate from age 16, you need two witnesses who are not nominees, and marriage revokes an existing nomination while divorce does not. Those last rules mirror the Wills Act, and families often forget to redo both after marrying.
Property held as joint tenants passes to the survivor regardless of the will; property held as tenants in common passes under the will. Insurance policies may carry a revocable or a trust nomination, and a trust nomination generally cannot be changed without the beneficiary's consent. Review the way each major asset is held at the same time as you make the will. Our wills and succession guide looks at common combinations.
A good will is only half the plan; the other half is making sure your CPF nomination, your joint accounts and your insurance say the same thing.
Tax, property and timing: what wills in Singapore need to plan for
Singapore abolished estate duty for deaths on or after 15 February 2008, so there is no Singapore inheritance tax to plan around. That does not make tax irrelevant. The executor must still settle the deceased's income tax up to the date of death, and transfers of property under a will, or later sales by the estate, can raise stamp duty and property tax questions. Families with members abroad also need to check whether another country taxes the inheritance.
Property needs particular care. Many families' main asset is an HDB flat or private home, and the will should match how it is held and who is eligible to keep it. HDB eligibility rules can prevent a beneficiary from keeping a flat even if the will leaves it to them, in which case the beneficiary may only receive the value. Foreign beneficiaries of Singapore residential property face restrictions under the Residential Property Act, and the court guidance notes they may need to dispose of the interest within five years of the death unless the Singapore Land Authority approves otherwise.
Timing matters as well. Executors cannot distribute until they hold a grant, debts are paid and the assets have been collected, so beneficiaries who need money quickly, such as a surviving spouse, may be better protected by joint accounts, insurance nominations or a CPF nomination, which pay out faster. Good wills in Singapore anticipate these gaps rather than leaving the family to discover them.
Making a will: the process
- List assets and how they are held. Include Singapore and overseas property, bank and investment accounts, company shares, CPF, insurance and digital assets, and note which are joint or nominated.
- Decide on people. Choose executors, substitutes, guardians and beneficiaries, and think about who might feel left out and why.
- Check capacity and independence. For elderly or unwell testators, consider a medical opinion on capacity at the time of signing, and meet the testator without beneficiaries in the room.
- Draft and review. Draft in plain language, test each clause against "what if this person dies first?" and align it with nominations and joint holdings.
- Sign correctly. Sign in front of two independent witnesses present at the same time, who then sign in your presence. Initial each page and keep the original safe.
- Record its existence. Deposit a record with the Wills Registry so that your family can find out that the will exists and where it is kept.
- Review at life events. Revisit the will on marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, a move abroad, a business sale or the death of a beneficiary.
Risks and common mistakes
Home-made wills that fail on formalities
Templates are tempting, but small execution errors can be fatal. Witnesses who were not present at the same time, a beneficiary acting as witness, missing pages or unsigned handwritten changes all create problems that the family only discovers after death. Alterations made after signing must themselves be properly executed, or they may be ignored. A properly supervised signing, with an attestation clause recording how the will was executed, makes the will far easier to prove. It costs little compared with a contested probate application, which can freeze the estate for a long time while the family argues.
Questions about capacity or undue influence
A will can be challenged if the testator lacked testamentary capacity or was pressured. The court asks whether the testator understood what a will is, knew broadly what they owned, appreciated who might have a claim on them and was free of any disorder of the mind that distorted their choices. Where a testator is elderly, ill or changes an existing will significantly, a contemporaneous medical assessment and a lawyer's attendance note are valuable evidence. A beneficiary who arranges the will, chooses the lawyer or sits in on instructions invites suspicion, even when nothing improper happened.
Marriage revokes the will you forgot about
Because marriage revokes an earlier will unless it was made in contemplation of that marriage, many couples are unknowingly intestate. The same applies to CPF nominations. If you have married since making your will or nomination, assume both need to be redone. The opposite trap is divorce: neither a will nor a CPF nomination is revoked by divorce, so a former spouse may still inherit or act as executor unless you change the documents. Diarise a review whenever your marital status changes.
Leaving out a dependant
Singapore allows testamentary freedom, but it is not unlimited. Under the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act, certain dependants of a person who dies domiciled in Singapore, including a spouse, a young son, an unmarried daughter and a child who cannot maintain themselves because of disability, may ask the court for reasonable maintenance from the estate. If you intend to leave a dependant less than they might expect, record your reasons in a separate note and consider making some provision. That makes a claim less likely and gives the court context if one is made.
Overseas assets and foreign beneficiaries
A Singapore will may not be effective for land abroad, which is usually governed by the law of the place where it sits, and some countries apply forced heirship rules. Foreign beneficiaries who inherit Singapore residential property may need to dispose of it within a set period unless the Singapore Land Authority approves otherwise. Consider separate wills for major foreign assets, drafted so that neither accidentally revokes the other, and check the rules in each country with local counsel.
Cross-border families: Bangladesh, the UK, the UAE and beyond
Many people making wills in Singapore have family, property or citizenship elsewhere. Singapore recognises a will as formally valid if it meets the formalities of certain connected places, such as where it was signed, or the testator's domicile, habitual residence or nationality. Substance is a different matter: succession to movable property generally follows the law of the deceased's domicile, while land follows the law of the place where it is.
For Bangladeshi families, personal religious law often governs succession, and land in Bangladesh needs Bangladeshi procedures; TRW & Co's Dhaka team can advise on a parallel Bangladeshi will or on how a Singapore grant will be used there. For UK-connected families, an English will may already exist and must be coordinated so that neither revokes the other, and UK inheritance tax can still apply depending on residence history. In the UAE, non-Muslim expatriates can register wills under local regimes such as those of the DIFC or Abu Dhabi. TRW & Co's offices in London and Dubai can coordinate. Our cross-border estates guide goes further.
How TRW & Co helps families with wills in Singapore
We advise and draft, and we coordinate with counsel abroad. Where Singapore court or tribunal representation is required, for example in a contested probate, we work alongside Singapore-qualified counsel.
Asset and nomination review
We map every asset, how it is held and what currently happens to it on death, so gaps between the will, CPF, insurance and joint holdings are visible.
Will drafting and signing
We draft clear wills, including trusts for children and vulnerable beneficiaries, and supervise signing so the formalities are met and recorded.
Multi-country wills
For families with assets in Bangladesh, the UK, the UAE or elsewhere, we coordinate separate wills so they work together and do not revoke each other.
Capacity and lasting powers
We pair wills with lasting powers of attorney and plan for capacity evidence where a challenge is foreseeable.
Business owners should also read our business succession guide, and families with a family office should see family offices. Browse our practices or contact us to arrange a confidential discussion.
Checklist for families
- Do I have a valid will, and have I married since I signed it?
- Are my executors, substitutes and guardians named and willing to act?
- Is there a clear residuary clause, and does it say what happens if a beneficiary dies first?
- Have I made or updated my CPF nomination, and does it match the will?
- Do I know which property and accounts are joint, and is that what I want?
- Have I recorded the will with the Wills Registry and told my executors where the original is?
- Do I have assets or beneficiaries abroad that need a separate will or local advice?
- Do I also have a lasting power of attorney in case I lose capacity before death?
Working through this list once, and reviewing it at each major life event, keeps wills in Singapore doing what they are meant to do: giving the family certainty when it is needed most.
Frequently asked questions
01Do I need a lawyer to make a valid will in Singapore?
No. A will is valid if it meets the Wills Act requirements: you are at least 21, it is in writing, and you sign it before two witnesses present at the same time, who then sign in your presence. In practice, professional drafting and supervised signing reduce the risk of ambiguity, failed gifts and challenges. That matters most where there are young children, blended families, business interests, assets abroad or any reason to expect someone to be unhappy with the result.
02What happens to my estate if I die without a will?
For non-Muslims, the Intestate Succession Act decides. A spouse with children takes half and the children share the other half; a spouse with no children or parents takes everything; and so on through parents, siblings, grandparents and uncles and aunts. Unmarried partners and friends receive nothing. Someone must apply for letters of administration, which usually takes longer than proving a will. Muslim estates are distributed according to faraid as certified by the Syariah Court.
03Does my will cover my CPF savings?
No. CPF savings do not form part of your estate and are distributed by CPF nomination. You can nominate from age 16 with two witnesses who are not nominees. Without a nomination, the savings go to the Public Trustee's Office, which distributes them under the intestacy rules or the Muslim Inheritance Certificate after deducting a fee. A nomination does not cover property bought with CPF, Dependants' Protection Scheme payouts or CPF Investment Scheme investments, which follow other rules.
04Can a Muslim in Singapore make a will?
Yes. A Muslim can make a wasiat, but it can generally direct no more than one-third of the estate, usually to people or causes who are not already faraid heirs. The remaining estate passes under faraid, with shares certified in an Inheritance Certificate from the Syariah Court. Joint tenancy, CPF nominations and insurance nominations interact with these rules in ways the courts have examined, so Muslim families should take specific advice on how assets are held as well as on the wasiat itself.
05Where should I keep my will?
Keep the signed original somewhere safe and known to your executors, such as with your lawyer or in a secure place at home. Copies are not a substitute, because the court generally needs the original, and a missing original can raise a presumption that you destroyed it. You can also deposit a record with the Wills Registry so that your family can discover that a will exists and where it is kept, which helps prevent an estate being administered as if there were no will.
06Will my Singapore will cover property in another country?
It may, but often not reliably. Land is usually governed by the law of the place where it is, and some countries apply forced heirship rules or require local formalities. A Singapore grant may also need to be recognised or resealed abroad. Many families with significant foreign assets use separate wills for each country, drafted so that one does not revoke the other. Check the position with counsel in each jurisdiction before relying on a single will.
07How often should I update my will?
Review it whenever your circumstances change: marriage, which revokes an earlier will, divorce, which does not, the birth or adoption of a child, a beneficiary's death, moving country, buying or selling significant property or a business, or a change in how you want your children's inheritance managed. Otherwise, a review every few years is sensible. Remember to review your CPF nomination, joint holdings and insurance nominations at the same time.
Sources and official materials
- Wills Act 1838 — Age, execution formalities, witness gifts and revocation by marriage
- Intestate Succession Act 1967 — Rules of distribution where there is no will
- Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966 — Law governing Muslim estates in Singapore
- Inheritance (Family Provision) Act 1966 — Maintenance claims by dependants against an estate
- CPF Board: Making a CPF nomination — What a nomination covers, witnesses and revocation on marriage
- Wills Registry — Depositing and searching for will records
- Ministry of Law: written answer on the Wills Act 1838 (2022) — Effect of divorce on wills
General information only, current as at 20 October 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer–client relationship. Singapore law and regulatory practice change; check current official sources and take advice on the facts of your matter.
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