Wills and probate in Singapore decide what happens to your money, home and belongings after you die, and who is legally allowed to deal with them. A will lets you choose; if you die without one, a fixed statutory formula chooses for you. Either way, someone usually has to apply to the Family Justice Courts for legal authority before a bank, the CPF Board or the Singapore Land Authority will release or transfer anything.

This guide gives you the whole picture in plain English: why estate planning matters, how to make a valid will, what happens if you do not, the role of an executor, the difference between a grant of probate and letters of administration, and the assets that pass outside your will entirely. It also covers planning for loss of mental capacity while you are still alive. Each section links to a detailed guide if you want to go deeper.

Why estate planning matters, especially after divorce

Estate planning is not only for the wealthy or the elderly. Anyone with a HDB flat, CPF savings, insurance policies or young children has decisions worth making in advance. Without a plan, your estate is distributed by a rigid legal formula that may not match your wishes, and the people you leave behind must navigate a court process at the worst possible time.

Divorce makes this urgent for a reason many people miss. Under Singapore law, a divorce does not automatically revoke or cancel your existing will. If you made a will years ago leaving everything to your spouse and later divorced, that gift can still stand unless you update the will, meaning your ex-spouse could inherit despite the divorce. Marriage, by contrast, generally does revoke an earlier will. So if you are going through, or have completed, a divorce in Singapore, reviewing your will and your various nominations should be near the top of your post-divorce checklist. The same applies to remarriage, which revokes the will you made while single.

Good estate planning does three things: it says who inherits what, it names the people who will carry out your wishes and care for your children, and it plans for the possibility that you lose mental capacity before you die. The rest of this guide works through each piece.

Making a valid will in Singapore

For non-Muslims, wills in Singapore are governed by the Wills Act 1838. The formal requirements for a valid will are strict, because the law wants to be sure a will really reflects the wishes of the person who made it (the testator). In outline, a valid will must meet these conditions:

  • The testator is at least 21 years old. A person under 21 generally cannot make a valid will.
  • The will is in writing. Oral or purely verbal wishes are not enough.
  • The testator signs the will, or acknowledges their signature, in the presence of two witnesses who are both present at the same time.
  • The two witnesses then sign in the testator’s presence.
  • Neither witness (nor a witness’s spouse) is a beneficiary. A gift to a witness (or to the witness’s husband or wife) is generally void, even though the will itself stays valid. This is a trap that quietly disinherits well-meaning family members who act as witnesses.

Get any of these wrong and the will may fail, wholly or in part, sending your estate down the intestacy route instead. Our detailed guide to writing a will in Singapore walks through each requirement, what to include, and the common mistakes that invalidate homemade wills.

What happens if you die without a will

Dying without a valid will is called dying intestate. For non-Muslims, the Intestate Succession Act 1967 then decides who inherits and in what shares. You have no say, and neither does your family. The Act works through a fixed order of priority based on who survives you:

Who survives youHow the estate is divided (as a guide)
Spouse, no children, no parentsSpouse takes everything
Spouse and childrenSpouse takes one half; children share the other half equally
Children, no spouseChildren share everything equally
Spouse and parents, no childrenSpouse takes one half; parents share the other half
Parents, no spouse, no childrenParents share everything equally
No spouse, children or parentsPasses to siblings, then more distant relatives in a set order

Notice what intestacy does not do: it makes no provision for a partner you never married, for stepchildren, for friends or for charities, and it cannot appoint a guardian for your children. It also forces your family to sort out shares under a formula that may split assets awkwardly. Because there is no executor named, a relative must apply to court for letters of administration before anyone can deal with the estate, a process explained in our guide to dying without a will and applying for letters of administration.

If you are Muslim, your estate is generally distributed according to Muslim inheritance law (faraid) under the Administration of Muslim Law Act, rather than the Intestate Succession Act. The fixed shares and the process differ, and an Inheritance Certificate from the Syariah Court is usually obtained to confirm the beneficiaries and their entitlements. Muslim testators can also make wills, but within limits set by Muslim law. If this applies to you, take advice specific to your situation.

The executor and their duties

An executor is the person you name in your will to carry out your wishes. Choosing the right executor matters, because they will handle real responsibility at a difficult time. Their duties typically include:

  • Locating the will and applying to court for the grant of probate
  • Identifying and gathering in all the assets, and drawing up a schedule of assets
  • Paying the deceased’s debts, taxes and funeral expenses out of the estate
  • Distributing what remains to the beneficiaries named in the will
  • Keeping proper accounts of everything received and paid out

You can name more than one executor, and it is sensible to name a backup in case your first choice cannot act. Executors can be beneficiaries, and it is common to appoint a spouse or adult child who also inherits. When there is no will, the equivalent person is called an administrator, and they are appointed by the court rather than chosen by the deceased.

Probate vs letters of administration

Before anyone can lawfully deal with a deceased person’s assets, they usually need a grant of representation from the Family Justice Courts. Which grant you apply for depends on whether there is a valid will:

  • Grant of probate: applied for by the executor named in the will. It confirms the will is valid and gives the executor authority to administer the estate. See our guide to the grant of probate in Singapore.
  • Letters of administration: applied for when there is no valid will (or no willing executor). The court appoints an administrator, usually a close family member, following the priority order under the law. See our guide to letters of administration.

Both are applied for at the Family Justice Courts, and both involve filing supporting documents such as the death certificate, the original will (for probate) and a schedule of the estate’s assets and liabilities. The grant is the key that unlocks the banks, the CPF Board and the property registry. Not every estate needs one, however, as the next section explains.

Assets that pass outside your will

One of the most misunderstood parts of estate planning is that a will does not control everything you own. Several major assets pass by their own rules, regardless of what your will says. Getting this wrong is a common and expensive mistake.

  • CPF savings. Your CPF monies are not covered by your will. They pass under a separate CPF nomination you make with the CPF Board. If you make no nomination, your CPF is distributed by the Public Trustee under the intestacy rules, not under your will. Marriage automatically revokes a previous CPF nomination, so this is a critical thing to review after big life events.
  • Jointly held property and joint bank accounts. Where property or an account is held as a joint tenancy, it usually passes automatically to the surviving joint owner by the right of survivorship. It does not form part of your estate and cannot be given away by your will. A HDB flat or private property held jointly typically passes this way.
  • Insurance policies with a nomination. Life insurance proceeds can pass directly to nominated beneficiaries under the policy’s nomination, bypassing the will.

Because these assets sit outside your 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. After a divorce, review each one separately. Updating your will alone does not touch your CPF or insurance nominations.

Small estates and simpler alternatives

Not every estate has to go through a full court application. Where an estate is small and made up of limited assets, the Public Trustee’s Office may be able to administer it without the family obtaining a grant of probate or letters of administration, subject to the conditions and asset limits that apply at the time. This can save a grieving family time and cost.

Similarly, assets that pass by survivorship or by nomination (a jointly held flat, CPF monies with a valid nomination, nominated insurance proceeds) can often be released without any court grant at all. Whether you need a grant, and which route is cheapest, depends entirely on what the estate contains and how each asset is held. It is worth checking each asset’s rules before assuming a full application is necessary.

Planning for loss of capacity: LPA and deputyship

Estate planning is not only about death. You may lose the mental capacity to manage your own affairs (through illness, dementia or an accident) while you are still alive. Two mechanisms deal with this, and they are the mirror image of each other.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is something you make in advance, while you still have capacity, to appoint one or more trusted people (your donees) to make decisions about your finances and personal welfare if you later lose capacity. It is a planning tool, and far cheaper and quicker than the alternative. Our guide to the Lasting Power of Attorney in Singapore explains how to make one.

If a person has already lost capacity without having made an LPA, their family must instead apply to court to be appointed a deputy, a slower, more expensive process. Our guide to deputyship in Singapore explains when it is needed and how to apply. The clear lesson is that making an LPA early spares your family the deputyship route later.

Putting your estate plan together

A complete estate plan in Singapore usually has four moving parts: a valid, up-to-date will; correct CPF and insurance nominations; a clear understanding of which assets pass by survivorship; and a Lasting Power of Attorney in case you lose capacity. Reviewed together, they make sure the right people inherit, the right people are in charge, and your family is spared avoidable court proceedings.

Review the whole plan after any major life event (marriage, divorce, remarriage, a new child, or buying property) because these are exactly the moments when an out-of-date will or nomination does real harm. This site explains how the law works, but it is not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances. If your estate is substantial, involves a business or overseas assets, or your family situation is complicated, get advice from a lawyer who handles wills and estates.

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