Having a valid will is crucial to ensure you have control over how your assets are dealt with when you pass away. If a will is not drafted correctly, there is a risk it will be found to be invalid, in which case legal rules dictate how your assets will be distributed.
If a person dies without leaving a valid will, they will be referred to as having died “intestate”. The Intestate Succession Act will determine how the deceased’s assets will pass to specific individuals. It should be noted, however, that the Act does not apply to Muslims, whose property will be distributed according to Muslim law and the Syariah Court.
Under the laws of intestacy, the entire estate could be distributed to anyone from the deceased’s spouse to their aunts and uncles, depending upon which categories of persons survive them. The estate will pass to the Government if the deceased has no relatives.
The laws of intestacy do not provide for any gifts to individuals who are not related, nor do they provide for any gifts to charities. Therefore, the operation of this law may not be in line with the deceased’s true wishes, hence the need for a well-drafted will.
Useful terms to know
Below are some key terms commonly used in preparing a will and dealing with a deceased person’s estate, together with their definitions.
Term
Definition
Will
A document that sets out how a person’s assets will be inherited following their death
Codicil
An attachment to the will detailing any changes or additions to the will
Testator
The person making the will
Beneficiary
The person who is gifted assets by the deceased
Estate
The entirety of the testator’s assets and liabilities
Executor
The person who is appointed to manage the testator’s estate
Making a valid will
There are some basic requirements which need to be satisfied for a will to be valid in Singapore:
- The will must be in writing.
- The person making the will (i.e. the testator) must be at least 21 years old.
- The testator must sign at the end of the will.
- The testator must sign (or acknowledge their signature) in the presence of at least 2 witnesses who are present at the same time. The witnesses must then sign the will in the testator’s presence.
These formalities must be complied with to ensure no fundamental issues arise with the will following the testator’s death. An electronic will is not sufficient as it would fail to comply with requirements 3 and 4, and Singapore’s Electronic Transactions Act does not extend to wills. A will drafted online must still be printed, signed in ink and witnessed in person.
The witnesses should be independent. That means a witness should not be:
- A beneficiary of the will; nor
- The spouse of a beneficiary.
This matters because of section 10 of the Wills Act: a gift to a witness, or to a witness’s spouse, is void. The will itself remains valid, but that person loses their gift, which is often only discovered after the testator has died. For the same reason, it is safest not to ask your own spouse to witness your will if they are named in it.
What to write in the will
The more specific a will, the better. A perfectly drafted will addresses all possible situations and will avoid any ambiguity in terms of the disposition of the deceased’s assets. It would always be a good idea to do the following:
- Draw up a list of assets that clarifies what the estate consists of. Considering intangible and physical assets is vital, and everything should be accounted for.
- Draw up a list of liabilities and clearly state how such liabilities shall be settled before the remaining assets are passed to the beneficiaries.
- Identify the executors by stating their full name and address. Nothing prevents a beneficiary from being named as an executor. It is also wise to appoint a replacement executor to act in case the initially appointed person is unable or unwilling to act. Ideally, the executor should be informed of their appointment before the will is executed to avoid surprises and reduce the risk of them refusing or being unable to take on the role.
- Identify the beneficiaries. It is best practice to write the beneficiary’s full name and address in the will to avoid any confusion later. The will should also detail any “reserve” beneficiary who will inherit, should the first beneficiary die before the testator. One example is gifting a beneficiary’s share to their children equally if they do not survive the testator.
- State which assets shall be passed to which beneficiaries and in what proportions. The clearest way to do this will depend upon the type of asset. If it is a gift of money, the exact figure should be stated, and ideally, the source of the funds identified. If it is a gift of a proportion of an asset, such as property, this can be stated in percentages. The testator should check that the property they are giving away does form part of the estate to avoid disappointment and the potential for a dispute.
- If the testator wishes to instruct a particular professional to assist with the distribution of the estate, their details should be provided. For example, they may want to appoint a specific lawyer to assist the executors or a financial expert to help with any accounts.
- Every will should include a “revocation clause”, which clarifies that any previous wills are invalid. The testator should also destroy any previous wills as an extra measure to ensure no ambiguity.
- Include a clause dealing with the “residuary estate”. This constitutes any assets remaining after all liabilities and other gifts have been made. The testator may not anticipate anything left over when making the will, but they should insert this clause, nonetheless. In a situation where a beneficiary does not survive the testator, their gift will form part of the residuary estate and will need to be dealt with some other way.
Central Provident Fund (CPF)
A person’s CPF does not form part of their estate and, therefore, cannot be gifted to individuals under the terms of a will. To ensure any funds accrued under a CPF can be inherited, the fund’s owner must nominate their beneficiaries separately under the CPF itself. This can be done online on the CPF Board website using Singpass, with two witnesses who are at least 21 and also confirm through Singpass.
If there is no CPF nomination, the CPF Board passes the savings to the Public Trustee’s Office, which distributes them to the family under the intestacy rules, whatever the will says, and deducts an administration fee.
Other assets a will may not cover
A will only deals with assets that form part of your estate. Two other common exceptions are:
- Property held as joint tenants, which passes automatically to the surviving owner. If you own a flat, our article on HDB inheritance rules in Singapore explains how public housing is treated
- Insurance policies with a nomination, which generally pay out to the nominees rather than through the estate
It is worth checking these alongside the will, so that the overall result is what you intend.
What if there are errors?
Mistakes in a will could have serious consequences. Ambiguity and errors in drafting may result in a dispute and extensive court proceedings being needed after the testator dies to establish what their intention was when drawing up the will. As the testator will have died by this point, the executors, and the court (if necessary) will have to rely on other evidence to decipher how the estate should be distributed.
Court proceedings or negotiations may also result in the deceased’s assets being depleted due to legal fees, with less remaining for the beneficiaries. In extreme situations, family bonds may be damaged or even broken irreparably.
Can the will be amended?
The testator may amend their will whilst they are still alive. This might be necessary if they realise, they have omitted something or made a mistake. Other important life events may also require the will to be altered, for example, if the testator gets married, divorced, or new beneficiaries are born (such as grandchildren).
Marriage and divorce have very different effects:
- Marriage generally revokes an existing will (section 13 of the Wills Act). Anyone who marries after making a will should make a new one, or risk their estate passing under the intestacy rules.
- Divorce does not. Under Singapore law, a divorce or annulment does not by itself cancel a former spouse’s appointment as executor or beneficiary under a will made during the marriage. If you are divorcing, review your will rather than assume it has changed.
It is important to note that the will itself, once duly signed, cannot be altered. However, the testator may prepare a document known as a “Codicil” which can be attached to the will, and which sets out any amendments or additions. The codicil must comply with the same formalities as a will to be valid. It should make clear which parts of the will are to be amended or removed and what new terms are to be added, if any.
A testator can add as many codicils to the will as they like. However, if it reaches a stage where the terms of the original will are being altered substantially, it may be better to create a fresh will. There is potential for confusion if executors must refer to multiple documents to determine the deceased’s wishes, so having everything consolidated in one will helps to reduce the risk of uncertainty.
Whether drawing up a codicil or a fresh will, the testator should inform their family members and the executors that they have made a new document. They do not have to disclose the contents, but the process will be made much simpler if family members can locate the relevant documents following the testator’s death.
Where to keep your will
Keep the signed original somewhere safe that your executor knows about; the original, not a copy, is what is needed when applying for a Grant of Probate. You can also record the will with the Wills Registry, a voluntary and confidential registry run by the Singapore Academy of Law. The Registry does not hold the will itself. It records that a will exists and where it is kept, so that your family can find it later.
Is a lawyer needed?
There is no legal requirement for a lawyer to prepare a will. If the will is straightforward, the testator may not consider instructing a lawyer to be necessary.
However, as mentioned above, a wrongly drafted will can cause significant issues. Therefore, it is usually worth instructing a lawyer to prepare a will, particularly if there are extensive assets, or the testator’s wishes are complex.
It would also be best to instruct a lawyer to draw up any codicils to make sure any amendments or additions are drafted properly to give effect to the testator’s wishes. Our will writing page sets out how we prepare and sign wills with clients.
Plan alongside your will
A will only takes effect on death. It does not help your family if you lose mental capacity while you are alive. That is the role of a Lasting Power of Attorney, which lets you choose who makes decisions for you. Since 1 April 2026, Singapore Citizens making an LPA using Form 1 pay no application fee to the Office of the Public Guardian (a Certificate Issuer’s professional fee still applies), so there is little reason not to make both at the same time.
Common questions
Can I write my own will in Singapore without a lawyer?
Yes. There is no legal requirement to use a lawyer, and a home-made will is valid if it meets the formalities above. The risks are in the drafting and the signing: unclear gifts, a missing residuary clause, or a beneficiary acting as a witness are the mistakes we see most often.
Is an online or typed will valid in Singapore?
A will can be typed or drafted online, but it must be printed and signed by hand in the presence of two witnesses who are present at the same time. A will that exists only electronically, or is “signed” with a click or a typed name, does not meet the Wills Act requirements.
Does getting married cancel my will?
Generally, yes. Marriage revokes a will made before it, so you should make a new will after you marry.
Does my will still apply after a divorce?
Yes, unless you change it. A divorce does not automatically remove your former spouse as executor or beneficiary, so review your will once proceedings begin.