We meet families across Singapore, at a time that suits you.
The questions families actually ask us, answered plainly. General information, not legal advice.
The Intestate Succession Act 1967 decides who gets what. If you leave a spouse and children, they share the estate between them. If you leave a spouse and no children, your spouse takes everything, unless your parents survive you, in which case they take half. The shares are fixed, and the Act does not know anything about your family, your promises, or who has been caring for whom.
Your family also has to apply for Letters of Administration rather than probate, which usually takes longer and costs more.
This is the non-Muslim position. Muslim estates are distributed under faraid through the Administration of Muslim Law Act.
No, and this catches almost everyone. CPF savings are dealt with under the CPF Act, outside your estate. They go to the people named in your CPF nomination, and your will cannot redirect them.
If you never made a nomination, your CPF goes to the Public Trustee to be distributed under the intestacy rules. Making a nomination is free and takes minutes.
It depends on how the flat is held. A flat held in joint tenancy passes automatically to the surviving joint owner by right of survivorship, no matter what your will says. A share held as tenancy in common passes under your will, or under intestacy if there is no will.
HDB eligibility rules still apply to whoever inherits, which is a common and expensive surprise. We check the tenancy before drafting anything.
A Lasting Power of Attorney works while you are alive but have lost mental capacity. It appoints someone to make decisions about your property, your affairs and your personal welfare. It is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian and it ends at death.
A will only takes effect after you die. Most families need both, and the two are often confused.
Someone organised, willing, and likely to outlive you. The executor gathers the assets, applies for the Grant of Probate, settles debts, and distributes what is left. It is real work over several months.
Appointing the eldest child by default is the most common cause of friction we see. Appoint a backup as well.
It varies with the estate. A straightforward estate with a valid will is commonly a matter of months from application to distribution. Estates without a will, with overseas assets, or with a disputed property usually take longer.
Having a clear, current will is the single biggest thing that shortens it.
Yes. You can update or replace it at any time while you have mental capacity. We recommend a look at it after any of the big ones: a marriage, a divorce, a birth, a new property, a business sold, or a beneficiary who has died.
Marriage in particular can revoke an existing will, so tell us if one is coming.
Yes. Muslim estates in Singapore are distributed according to faraid under the Administration of Muslim Law Act, with an Inheritance Certificate issued by the Syariah Court. A wasiat can direct up to one third of your net estate to people who would not inherit under faraid.
It is a separate track with its own rules and we handle it. Tell us at the first conversation.
It depends on what you need. A straightforward will is very different from a trust with staged distributions or an estate already in dispute. We tell you what it costs for your situation before any work starts, so there is nothing open ended.
Tell us what your family looks like and what you own, and we will give you a number.
No. We meet families across Singapore, wherever is easiest. Many first conversations happen over a call, and the signing happens wherever suits you, with the witnesses the law requires.
Log in to the CPF website and look at your nomination. If it is blank, or it still names someone from a previous chapter of your life, that is the single most valuable ten minutes you will spend this year. It is free, and your will cannot fix it for you.
Send us a short note about your family and what you own. We will tell you plainly what needs doing, and what does not.
Ask usIf your question isn’t up there, it’s probably a good one. Send it over.
We meet families across Singapore, at a time that suits you.
Life Will