Writing a will in Singapore is one of the simplest and most useful things you can do for the people you leave behind. A valid will lets you choose who inherits your assets, name the person who will carry out your wishes, and appoint guardians for young children: decisions that a rigid legal formula makes for you if you die without one. This guide explains the legal requirements, what to put in your will, what a will cannot cover, and the mistakes that quietly invalidate homemade wills.

For a broader view of how a will fits into your overall estate plan, including probate and planning for loss of capacity, see our complete guide to wills and probate in Singapore. This article focuses on the will itself.

For non-Muslims, wills in Singapore are governed by the Wills Act 1838. The formal requirements exist to prove the will genuinely reflects your wishes. A valid will must satisfy all of the following:

  • You are at least 21 years old. A person under 21 generally cannot make a valid will.
  • The will is in writing. Verbal wishes, however clearly expressed, do not count.
  • You sign the will, or acknowledge your signature, in front of two witnesses who are both present at the same time.
  • Both witnesses sign the will in your presence.
  • Neither witness, nor a witness’s spouse, is a beneficiary. A gift to a witness or a witness’s husband or wife is generally void, even though the rest of the will remains valid.

The witness rule catches many people out. If you ask the person you are leaving money to, or their spouse, to witness your signature, the will stays valid but their gift usually fails. Choose two independent witnesses who inherit nothing, and who are old enough and mentally capable of understanding what they are witnessing.

What to include in your will

A well-drafted will covers more than just who gets what. The main components are:

  • Executors. Name the person (or people) who will administer your estate: apply for probate, gather your assets, pay your debts and distribute what remains. Appoint at least one backup in case your first choice cannot act. An executor can also be a beneficiary.
  • Guardians for minor children. If you have children under 21, you can name who should care for them if you die. This is especially important after a divorce or if you are a single parent: appointing a guardian gives the court your clear preference, though the child’s welfare remains the court’s overriding concern. If you share children, note that guardianship and care arrangements can interact with existing custody and care and control orders.
  • Specific gifts. Particular items or sums you want to leave to named people: a piece of jewellery, a fixed amount of money, a named account.
  • The residuary clause. This says who receives the residue: everything left over after specific gifts, debts and expenses. A good residuary clause is the safety net that stops any part of your estate falling into intestacy because you forgot to mention it.

It is also sensible to name substitute beneficiaries, for example stating what happens to a gift if the intended person dies before you, so your will still works even if circumstances change.

What a will cannot cover

A common and costly misunderstanding is that a will controls everything you own. It does not. Several major assets pass by their own rules, no matter what your will says:

  • CPF savings. Your CPF monies are not distributed by your will. They pass under a separate CPF nomination made with the CPF Board. If you make no nomination, your CPF is distributed by the Public Trustee under the intestacy rules. Writing a will does nothing to your CPF; you must make a nomination separately.
  • Jointly held property and joint accounts. Assets held as a joint tenancy, such as a jointly owned flat or a joint bank account, usually pass automatically to the surviving joint owner by the right of survivorship. They fall outside your estate and cannot be given away by your will.
  • Nominated insurance policies. Life insurance with a valid nomination pays out directly to the nominees, bypassing the will.

Your estate plan is only complete when your will, your CPF nomination and your insurance nominations all point where you actually want them to. Trying to leave your CPF or a jointly held flat through your will simply will not work.

Updating your will after life events

A will is not a set-and-forget document. Two life events matter most, and they work in opposite directions:

  • Marriage revokes your will. Getting married generally cancels a will you made beforehand, unless it was expressly made in contemplation of that marriage. If you have married since making your will, assume the old one is gone and make a fresh one.
  • Divorce does not revoke your will. This is the trap. A divorce leaves your existing will fully in force, including any gift to your former spouse. Unless you actively make a new will, your ex-spouse could still inherit exactly as your old will provides.

So if you are going through or have completed a divorce in Singapore, updating your will and your beneficiary nominations is essential. Remember to review each layer separately: make a new will, update your CPF nomination with the CPF Board, and update your insurance nominations. Changing one does not change the others. Other events worth a review include the birth of a child, buying property, a beneficiary dying, or the person you named as executor becoming unable to act.

Storing your will and the Wills Registry

A will only helps if it can be found. Keep the signed original somewhere safe and accessible, whether with your lawyer, in a secure location at home, or in a safe deposit box your executor can reach, and tell your executor where it is. Avoid leaving it somewhere no one knows about.

Singapore also runs a Wills Registry, administered under the Ministry of Law, where you can register the existence and location of your will. Registering does not lodge the will’s contents or its terms; it simply records that a will exists and where it can be found, so that your family and executor can locate it after your death. It is a useful backstop, not a substitute for safe storage of the original document.

DIY vs using a lawyer

You can legally write your own will, and for a genuinely simple estate (one property, straightforward family, clear wishes) a carefully prepared homemade or online will can be valid. But honesty is important here: most disputes and failed wills come from small errors that a DIY testator does not notice.

A lawyer earns their fee when your situation has any complexity: blended families, business interests, overseas assets, a recent divorce, potential claims by dependants, or anything you want structured carefully. They make sure the will is executed correctly, the wording does what you intend, and the document holds up when it matters. As a guide, a straightforward professionally drafted will is not expensive relative to the value of the estate it protects, but exact fees vary between firms, so ask for a quote.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most frequent errors that undermine a will in Singapore are:

  • Using a beneficiary, or a beneficiary’s spouse, as a witness, which voids their gift
  • Failing to sign in front of both witnesses at the same time
  • Assuming the will covers CPF or a jointly held flat when it does not
  • Not updating the will after marriage (which revokes it) or divorce (which does not)
  • Leaving no residuary clause, so part of the estate falls into intestacy
  • Storing the will where no one can find it, or never telling the executor it exists

A will is a small document with a large job. Get the formalities right, keep it current, and make sure it works alongside your CPF and insurance nominations. Once your will is in place, it is worth understanding what your executor will actually have to do; see our guide to the grant of probate in Singapore. This site explains the law in general terms and is not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances.

Further reading