Will Writing Lawyers in Singapore

A will sets out how your assets are to be distributed after your death and who is responsible for administering your estate. Without a valid one, your estate is divided by a statutory formula that takes no account of what you would have wanted, and the people left behind have less say than you might expect.

Why work with JCP Law on your will

Our probate lawyers spend their working lives administering estates, including estates where the will was written cheaply and read expensively. A will drafted by people who have to obtain the grant afterwards is drafted with that day in mind.

• We draft with the grant in mind, because this firm is also the one that applies for it
• We check your will against your CPF and insurance nominations, and against how your property is held, so the pieces do not contradict each other
• We tell you what your fee will be before any work begins
• Signing is attended to properly at our office, with two independent witnesses, which is where a surprising number of home-made wills fail

What happens if you die without a will

Your estate is distributed under the Intestate Succession Act, on a fixed formula. In outline:

• Spouse, no children and no surviving parents: your spouse takes the whole estate
• Spouse and children: your spouse takes half, and your children share the other half
• Children, no spouse: your children share the whole estate equally
• Spouse and parents, no children: your spouse takes half, and your parents share the other half
• Parents, no spouse and no children: your parents take the whole estate
• None of the above: it passes to brothers and sisters, then grandparents, then uncles and aunts, and failing everyone, to the State

That formula is indifferent to circumstances. It does not know that one child has been supporting you, that your partner of twenty years is not your spouse, or that you meant the flat to go to your sister. A will is the only way to say so.

What your will does not control

A common and expensive assumption is that a will covers everything you own. Several of the largest assets usually pass outside it:

• CPF savings go to your CPF nominees. A will has no effect on them at all, and CPF monies are not part of your estate
• Insurance policies with a nomination generally pass to the nominees rather than through the estate
• Property held as joint tenants passes automatically to the surviving owner by survivorship. Property held as tenants in common does pass under your will, and most people are unsure which of the two they have

We check these alongside the drafting, because a will that leaves “everything equally between my children” while the flat passes by survivorship to one of them is not doing what its author thought it was. Where a flat is involved, our note on HDB inheritance rules in Singapore sets out how public housing differs again.

Choosing an executor

Your executor collects the assets, settles the debts, and distributes what is left. It is an administrative job more than a legal one, and it lands on someone at the worst possible time.

Appoint someone organised, likely to outlive you, and willing. Say so to them in advance. Naming a substitute costs nothing and avoids an application to court if your first choice cannot act. Where children are involved, the same will can appoint guardians, and can hold a child’s share on trust until an age you choose rather than releasing it at twenty-one.

The witnesses: the mistake we see most

A will must be signed by you in the presence of two witnesses, who then sign in your presence. The requirement people miss is that a witness, or a witness’s spouse, cannot inherit under the will they witness. The gift to them fails. The will itself stays valid, which is precisely what makes it so damaging: nobody discovers the problem until the estate is being administered and the intended beneficiary is told they get nothing.

Wills witnessed at home by the two people most likely to be in the room are exactly how this happens. It is one of the reasons we attend to signing ourselves.

What we prepare

• Simple wills for individuals with straightforward estates
• Mirror wills for couples leaving their estates to each other and then to their children
• Complex wills involving family businesses, overseas assets, testamentary trusts or blended families
• Codicils and updates after marriage, divorce, births, deaths or a significant change in assets

If you have assets or beneficiaries outside Singapore, we flag the cross-border issues and can co-ordinate with overseas counsel, because property abroad is often governed by the succession law of the country it sits in rather than by your Singapore will.

How we prepare your will

Step 1: A conversation about your circumstances
Who depends on you, what you own, how it is held, and anything unusual about the family. Most of the value in a will is decided here rather than in the drafting.

Step 2: The asset picture
We go through your property, bank accounts, CPF and insurance nominations, investments and any business interests, and identify what will actually pass under the will as opposed to outside it.

Step 3: Executors, guardians and gifts
We settle who administers the estate, who looks after any children, what specific gifts you want to make, and who takes the residue. The residuary clause is the one that stops anything being missed.

Step 4: The draft
You get a draft to read properly and take away. Questions at this stage are cheap; questions after death are not.

Step 5: Signing
Signed at our office in front of two independent witnesses, in the order and manner the Wills Act requires.

Step 6: Storage
You can keep the original, leave it with us, or lodge the location with the Wills Registry at the Singapore Academy of Law. We usually recommend the Registry, because a will nobody can find does nothing.

While you are alive: the other half of the picture

A will takes effect only on death. It does nothing if you are alive but unable to make decisions for yourself. That is what a Lasting Power of Attorney is for, and the two documents are usually best done together.

Afterwards: what your executor faces

Your executor cannot deal with your estate simply by producing the will. They apply to court for a Grant of Probate, and until it is issued, banks and other institutions will not release what they hold. Our probate page sets out what that involves, what it costs, and how long it takes. Knowing it now is part of writing a will that is straightforward to administer later.

Will writing in Singapore: frequently asked questions

How much does a will cost in Singapore?

It depends on what the will has to do. A simple will for a straightforward estate is a different piece of work from one with a testamentary trust, a family business and assets in three countries. Tell us your circumstances and you will have the figure in writing before any work begins.

It is worth saying plainly that the cost of a will is small next to the cost of an unclear one. Ambiguity in a will is resolved at probate, where it is paid for by the estate and by whoever has to argue about it.

Can I write my own will?

Legally, yes. A home-made or online will can be perfectly valid. The difficulty is that its defects are invisible while you are alive and irreversible once you are not. The common ones are a beneficiary who witnessed it, no residuary clause, wording that two people can read two ways, and a will that contradicts a CPF nomination or a jointly held property.

You will never know if it went wrong. The people you meant to provide for will.

Does my will avoid probate?

No. A will decides who inherits; it does not remove the need for a court grant. Your executor still applies for a Grant of Probate before the estate can be dealt with. What a will does is make that application simpler, name the person who makes it, and remove the arguments about who should.

Does getting married cancel my will?

Generally yes. Marriage revokes an earlier will, unless the will was made in contemplation of that marriage and says so. Divorce, on the other hand, does not revoke a will in Singapore, so an ex-spouse can remain a beneficiary and an executor long after the marriage has ended. Both are good reasons to review the document.

What happens if I die without a will?

Your estate is distributed under the Intestate Succession Act, on the fixed formula set out above. Someone still has to apply to court, but for Letters of Administration rather than a Grant of Probate, and the law rather than you decides who that person is and who inherits.

Are CPF and insurance nominations covered by a will?

Generally no. CPF monies and nominated insurance policies pass directly to the nominees, outside the will and outside the estate. We review your nominations alongside the will so that the two work together rather than against each other.

Does a Singapore will cover my overseas assets?

Sometimes. Property in another country may be governed by that country’s succession laws, and in some jurisdictions a separate local will is advisable. We review your asset list and advise whether one will is enough or whether you need a second for a particular jurisdiction.

Can I leave someone out of my will?

Broadly you can leave your estate as you choose. There is a limited exception: certain dependants can apply to court under the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act for provision out of the estate where they have been left without reasonable maintenance. If you are deliberately leaving someone out, tell us, because how the will is drafted and what is recorded at the time can matter a great deal afterwards.

How often should I update my will?

Review it every few years, and after any of these: marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, the death of an executor or beneficiary, buying or selling property, or a significant change in your assets. An update is usually a short piece of work.

Where is the will stored after signing?

You can keep the original yourself, store it with us, or lodge details of its location with the Wills Registry maintained by the Singapore Academy of Law. The Registry records where the will is, not its contents. We recommend it for most clients, because the alternative is an executor searching a house for a document they cannot prove exists.