Estate planning in Singapore is not one document. It is a set of them, and each covers a different pile of assets: a will handles your estate, a CPF nomination handles your CPF, an insurance nomination handles the policy proceeds, and joint ownership handles the property. Get one and skip the rest and there will be gaps.
This is the full checklist, in the order most people should work through it. Nothing here is exotic; the point is completeness.
1. A valid will
The will deals with everything that forms part of your estate: sole-name bank accounts, investments, personal property, and any real estate not held in joint tenancy. It names your beneficiaries, appoints an executor to carry it out, and can appoint a guardian for children under 21.
To be valid under the Wills Act you must be at least 21, the will must be in writing, and you must sign it in the presence of two witnesses who are both present at the same time. A beneficiary or a beneficiary’s spouse must not witness it, because the gift to them fails if they do.
Two rules people consistently get wrong: marriage revokes an earlier will, and divorce does not revoke one at all. Both matter enormously if your family shape has changed. Our comparison of DIY, bank and lawyer-drafted wills covers the routes, and there are free and low-cost options if the cost is what is stopping you.
2. A lasting power of attorney
A will does nothing while you are alive. If you lose mental capacity, whether through dementia, a stroke, or an accident, nobody automatically gains the right to manage your money or make decisions about your care, not even a spouse.
A lasting power of attorney appoints someone you trust as your donee, covering personal welfare, property and affairs, or both. It must be made while you still have capacity, and registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. If capacity is already gone, the family’s only route is a deputyship application to court, which is slower, costlier and more intrusive.
If you appointed your spouse as donee and are now divorcing, revisit it. The appointment does not lapse on its own.
3. CPF nomination
Your CPF savings do not pass under your will. They are distributed according to your CPF nomination, made directly with the CPF Board. If you never made one, the money goes to the Public Trustee, who distributes it under intestacy law, which may be nothing like what your will says.
Marriage revokes an existing CPF nomination. Divorce does not. Check yours now, and check it again after any change in family circumstances. Full detail is in our guide to what happens to your CPF when you die, and current forms and rules are on cpf.gov.sg.
4. Insurance nominations
Life and personal accident policies can carry nominations. Where a valid nomination exists, the proceeds go to the nominee under the policy terms rather than into your general estate, which means your will does not control them.
Different types of nomination behave differently. Some are revocable, others create a trust that is much harder to change once made. Check with each insurer what you have in place, who is named, and whether it can still be varied. Policies bought years ago through a spouse’s adviser are the ones most often forgotten.
5. Jointly held property and accounts
How your home is held decides what happens to it:
- Joint tenancy: on death, your share passes automatically to the surviving joint owner by survivorship. It never enters your estate and your will cannot redirect it.
- Tenancy-in-common: you each own a defined share, and your share does form part of your estate and passes under your will.
Most married couples hold as joint tenants without ever being told the difference. If you are separating, this becomes central. See how HDB flats are dealt with in a divorce and how matrimonial assets are divided. Joint bank accounts follow the account terms, so ask your bank what happens on the death of one holder.
6. Guardianship of minor children
If you have children under 21, your will is where you record who you would want to raise them. This carries real weight with a court, though it is not automatically binding.
Where the parents are divorced and both are alive, the surviving parent will usually continue caring for the children. A guardian appointment mainly matters if both parents die, or if the other parent cannot act. That is precisely why separated parents should still make one: the scenario it covers is the one nobody wants to think about. It also pairs with the financial side, since you can direct that a child’s inheritance be held on trust and managed by someone you choose until they reach a stated age. Where custody arrangements are already in place, our guide to custody, care and control explains the terms a court will be working with.
7. Digital access, funeral wishes and personal instructions
Digital assets and access
Increasingly, the hard part of administering an estate is getting into things. Bank apps, e-wallets, investment platforms, cryptocurrency, email accounts, photo libraries, domain names, subscription services and business accounts all sit behind credentials.
Do not put passwords in your will, because the will becomes a public document once probate is granted. Instead, keep a separate, secure record of where accounts are held and how to access them, stored with the will or in a password manager whose recovery your executor can trigger. List the accounts even if you do not list the passwords; simply knowing what exists saves months.
Funeral wishes and a letter of wishes
Funeral arrangements are usually made long before anyone reads the will, so leave your wishes in a separate letter your family will find quickly: burial or cremation, religious observance, and anything you feel strongly about. If you have registered an organ donation position or made an advance medical directive, tell the people who would be asked.
A short letter of wishes alongside the will is also the place to explain uneven gifts. It has no legal force, but it can defuse a family argument the will itself would otherwise start.
Putting the checklist together
| Asset or decision | Governed by | Where to sort it out |
|---|---|---|
| Bank accounts, investments, sole-name property | Your will, or intestacy rules if none | Will, properly witnessed |
| CPF savings | CPF nomination | CPF Board |
| Insurance proceeds | Policy nomination | Each insurer |
| Home held in joint tenancy | Survivorship | Manner of holding, not the will |
| Decisions if you lose capacity | Mental Capacity Act | LPA, registered with the OPG |
| Care of children under 21 | Guardian appointment plus court | Will |
| Digital accounts | Nothing, unless you plan for it | Separate secure access record |
| Funeral and personal wishes | Nothing legally binding | Letter of wishes |
When to review the plan
Every few years as a baseline, and immediately after any of these: marriage, separation, divorce, a birth or adoption, a death among your beneficiaries or executors, buying or selling property, a significant change in wealth, or moving country.
Divorce is the review that gets skipped most often, because people assume the court order dealt with everything. It did not. A court order divides assets between two living people; it does not rewrite your will, your CPF nomination or your LPA. If you have just been through it, work down this list once and you will have closed every gap. The wills and probate guide explains what your family will have to do afterwards, and if you die without a will, the Intestate Succession Act decides everything for you.
