A Willⁱ is a written document that states who you want your assets and money ("the estate") to go to when you passed away. As it is a very important document the law specifies what will be recognised as a Willi. It is a temporary document and can be changed at any time by a subsequent Will or a Codicilⁱ during your lifetime.

It does not distribute your assets immediately upon the making of the Will, but takes effect after your demise.

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To ensure that your wishes of how your Assets are distributed are carried out, it is advisable to make a Willⁱ.

Otherwise, you leave it to chance and have your assets being distributed in accordance with the Intestate Succession Act or in accordance with law of the country in which you were domiciled (refer to "Domicileⁱ") at the time of your demise.

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If you are 21 years and of sound mind, you should make a Willⁱ to distribute your Assets as soon as possible. Although most people die from old age, some unfortunate incidents such as plane crash, terrorism, war or natural disaster may prematurely terminate our respective lives.

Some do not wish to think about death. Surprisingly enough, making a Willⁱ does not bring your death forward. If you make your Will now, you will have less worry about how your Assets will be distributed.

Some think they have nothing to leave to their love ones - if you own your own home, monies in bank accounts, cars, jewelleries, etc, you should consider making a Will. It all adds up to some value.

If you are 21 years old and of sound mind, you can make you own Willⁱ and change it at any time during your lifetime.

However, if your home-made Will is ineffective or invalid, your Beneficiariesⁱ may suffer unnecessary expense and distress.

It is therefore in your interest to consult a Lawyer to draft your Will

You should state the person(s) or organisation(s) to whom you wish to give away your property and assets. For example, you may give away your house, car, shares, insurance policies, bank accounts, cash and jewellery to family members, friends or to charities.

Unless you are making specific gift to certain person, you need not state or list out your assets in your Willⁱ.

However, it is good practice to have an Inventory List of your Assets and Liabilities attached to your Last Will, so that your Executor will know what your Assets comprised of. You should also update your Inventory List from time to time to reflect changes to your asset list.

This is a question of preference, and usually, a person may be influenced by the apparent lower costs offered by non-legal firms in offering Willⁱ drafting services.

In fact, the costs of a Will drafted by professional law firms are usually not more than a couple of hundreds of dollars (for relatively straightforward Will), and the law firm will usually have 1 or 2 lawyers witnessing the Testator's signature to the Will. Such solicitor's witnesses may be useful in the event of issues relating to the Testator's signature to the Will or where there are disputes surrounding the Will.

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In the event of simultaneous death, the older is deemed to have died first. The following examples may illustrate the various scenario (not exhaustive) and effects.

Example 1: Where you and your spouse have made identical Wills and give the whole of the Estate to the other
 

If you are the older spouse, it is deemed that you died first, and therefore your estate will go to your spouse’s estate under your Will and will be distributed under your spouse's Will.

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Unmarried daughters, child with some mental or physical disability and incapable of maintaining himself/herself and an infant son can apply to Court for reasonable provision for their maintenance under the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act even if they have been excluded under a Willⁱ.

Wills need not be registered in Singapore with any authority to be valid. However, you may lodge a Form 5 with the Wills Registry, Public Trustee in Singapore, which merely contains brief particulars of your Will such as date of Will, but not the contents. Your original Will or copy thereof cannot be deposited at the Wills Registry. For more information on Wills Registry, please visit this Link.
 

It is unfortunate that we are unable to take instructions from Muslims who intend to make a Willⁱ as we do not practise Syariah Laws. Please consult one who does practise Syariah Laws.

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If you have made a nomination under the CPF Act, your nominee shall be entitled to the funds in certain CPF accounts regardless of what is stated in your Willi. If you have not made a nomination, your funds will be distributed under the law in accordance with the Intestate Succession Act.

Even if you have a Will, you need to nominate so that your CPF savings, DPS insured sum, Discounted Singapore Telecom shares, fixed deposits under CPF Investment Scheme-Special Account (CPFIS-SA) and Economic Restructuring Shares (ERS) will be paid to your nominees.

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If you have a valid CPF Nomination, the following items will be distributed to your Nominees in the proportion as stated in your Nomination upon your death:

(a) Savings in the Ordinary, Special, Medisave and Retirement Accounts;
(b) Dependants' Protection Scheme (DPS) insured sum;
(c) Discounted Singapore Telecom shares;
(d) Fixed deposits under the CPF Investment Scheme - Special Account (CPFIS-SA), which will be converted to cash to form part of CPF savings; and
(e) Economic Restructuring Shares (ERS), which will be converted to cash to form part of CPF savings.

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Yes, you still need to nominate because the distribution of your CPF savings, DPS sum insured, shares in an approved corporation, fixed deposits under CPFIS-SA and ERS, is by way of nomination.

The CPF Board will transfer the following to the Public Trusteei for distribution in accordance with the intestate law:

(a) Savings in the Ordinary, Special, Medisave and Retirement Accounts;
(b) DPS insured sum;
(c) Fixed deposits under the CPFIS-SA, which will be converted to cash to form part of CPF savings; and
(d) ERS, which will be converted to cash to form part of CPF savings.

The following will form part of your estate:

(a) Cash and investments held under the CPFIS-OA;
(b) Investments held under CPFIS-SA, excluding fixed deposits;

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If you are a Non-Muslim, the Public Trustee will distribute your CPF savings in accordance with the Intestatei Succession Act. Your CPF savings will be distributed to your next-of-kin.

If you are a Muslim, your CPF savings will be distributed in accordance with the Inheritance Certificate.

If the beneficiary of your unnominated CPF monies is under the age of 21 years, the Public Trusteei will hold the minor's share in trust until he attains 21 years old. This is applicable to both Muslims and non-Muslims.

Divorce does not revoke your previous nomination. This is because you may still wish to provide for your ex-spouses and children. You may therefore wish to re-nominate when divorce takes place

Having made a Willⁱ, if your family members or your named Executor(s) do not know that you have made a Will or how to locate it, this will defeat the whole purpose of making a Will. It is therefore important to inform your Executor(s) and/or your close ones of the whereabouts of your original Will.

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If you marry or re-marry, your Willⁱ is nullified or cancelled unless the Will was made in contemplation of your marriage.

You should review your Will if any of the following event happens:

1. if you change your name or anyone mentioned in the Willi changes his;
2. if an executor or trustee dies or becomes unsuitable to act due to age or ill-health;
3. if a beneficiary dies;
4. if you subsequently sell or part with any property mentioned in the Will;

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You should never attempt to change your Willⁱ by crossing parts out or adding words in or by attaching anything to it. If you do so your Will may become ineffective or invalid. If you wish to change your Will, either make a fresh Will to revoke and supercede the earlier Will or prepare a Supplemental Will (“a Codicilⁱ").

As mentioned above, your Willⁱ only takes effect upon your death, and not before. Upon your death, your Executor(s) will have to apply to Court for a Grant of Probateⁱ.

For death occuring prior to 15 February 2008, the Court will only issue the Grant after the Estate Duty Officer has certified the following:

1. the value of your estate;
2. (a) the amount of estate duty payable and the fact that it has been paid; or
(b) that no estate duty is payable.

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As part of our service, we will assist our client to submit the Form 5 to the Wills Registry, Public Trustee's Office.

For more information, please refer to Public Trustee's Office's website at http://app.ipto.gov.sg/PublicTrustee.asp?pg=3F3B30380603031C513D0A08061C...

It is difficult to ascertain the costs of the Willⁱ without having taking instructions from you, and if you wish to request for our quotation, you may use our quote form at www.wills.sg/quote.

Upon receiving your quote request, we will revert to you on our estimated charges for your consideration.

A rough guide of fees charged by professional lawyers is in the region of $200 to $500 for a simple to moderate complex Will.