SECTION A. Benefits of making a Will. You can pick the people you trust to administer your assets and properties.

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1 SECTION A Benefits of making a Will You can determine how your assets and properties, even specific personal effects (e.g. jewellery, coins, antique), shall be distributed after you pass away. If you pass away without a Will or your Will is invalid, you are said to have died intestate and your assets will be distributed in accordance with the rules of intestacy as set out in the Intestate Succession Act. You can pick the people you trust to administer your assets and properties. You can appoint guardians for your infant children. You can state how you wish to be buried/cremated and if you wish to be cremated, how your ashes should be kept or scattered. The time period for the application for Grant of Probate is generally faster compared to the application for a Grant of Letters of Administration. However, there are some assets that do not need to be included in a will. Please refer to Section B for further details. For information on what to do when the deceased did not leave behind a will, please also refer to Section C.

2 SECTION B ASSETS THAT NEED NOT BE INCLUDED IN A WILL HDBs (Joint Tenancy) CPF Savings Joint Account In a joint tenancy, the rule of survivorship applies. Thus, when a joint tenant passes away, his/her interest in the HDB will automatically pass on to the surviving joint tenant(s). You cannot provide otherwise in your Will. Your CPF savings in your Ordinary, Special, Medisave and Retirement Accounts do not form part of your estate. Accordingly, they cannot be included in your Will. If you would like your CPF savings to be distributed in accordance with your wishes, you should make a CPF nomination instead. There is no limit to the number of nominees you may nominate. You can specify the proportion each nominee should receive, and the manner in which they would receive your CPF savings (whether in cash or in their own CPF accounts). In a joint account, the rule of survivorship applies. Thus, when a joint account holder passes away, his/her interest in the joint account will automatically pass on to the other joint account holder(s). You cannot provide otherwise in your Will. For Life Insurance Policies effected before 1 September 2009: A statutory trust is created over the proceeds of a life insurance policy in favour of the named beneficiaries where the policyholder s spouse or children or any of them are so nominated. The insurance proceeds will go directly to the nominee and will not form part of the policyholder s estate and so do not need to be included in a will. From 1 September 2009, a statutory trust is not automatically created over the proceeds of a life insurance policy. Insurance (Life Policies) For Insurance Policies effected after 1 September 2009: A policyholder can make a trust nomination in favour of the policyholder s spouse, children or grandchildren. The insurance proceeds will not form part of the policyholder s estate. They also cannot be separately bequeathed in a will. Alternatively, a policyholder may nominate a person to receive the proceeds of a relevant policy, provided that the nomination is made in accordance with the Insurance Act. Such a nomination can, however, be revoked under certain circumstances. For example, the nomination can be revoked if the policyholder makes another nomination or if the policyholder subsequently executes a will providing for the disposition of all the death benefits under the. A relevant policy is a policy which, among other things, provides for death benefits and insures the life of a policy owner.

3 SECTION C OVERVIEW OF STEPS ON HOW TO PROCEED IF THERE IS NO WILL Did the deceased leave behind a valid will 1? YES NO Are there any executors appointed by Will? Are the executors appointed legally capable of acting as such? Apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration (Refer to Diagram #1) YES NO Apply for a Grant of Probate (Refer to Diagram #1) Apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration with the will annexed Distribute assets in accordance with will Distribute assets in accordance with will Distribute assets in accordance with Intestate Succession Act (Refer to Diagram #2) Note: 1. The formal validity of the will is governed by Sections 4, 5, 6 and 13 of the Wills Act (Cap 352) (See Halsbury s Laws of Singapore Probate, Administration and Succession ). For example, the will is required to be signed by the testator in the presence of 2 or more witnesses at the same time. Please refer to Sections 4, 5, 6 and 13 of the Wills Act which can be accessed at:

4 DIAGRAM #1: APPLICATIONS FOR GRANT OF PROBATE OR LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION STEP 1: Conduct searches The applicant must conduct a litigation search in the record of caveats and the record of probate applications. STEP 2: Prepare documents The applicant will need to compile the following documents: (1) a certified true copy of the death certificate of the deceased or a certified true copy 1 of the Order of Court for presumption of death of the deceased; and (2) when there is a will, a certified true copy of the Will. STEP 3: Prepare and file Originating Summons in Court We will prepare and file the supporting documents with the Court, which will include the Supporting Affidavit, the Schedule of Assets and the Administration Oath. 1. A certified true copy of the Will shall contain the certification This is a certified true copy of the original will of [name of deceased] dated [date] on a covering page that is to be attached to the copy of the Will. 2. For deaths occurring before 1 January 2015, the applicant is required to annex the search reports from the Supreme Court, Family Justice Courts and State Courts. For deaths occurring on or after 1 January 201, the applicant is required to annex search reports from the Family Justice Courts. The applicant is required to annex the search reports for the year in which the application for a grant is filed as well as the search reports for the years that the litigation search indicates there were applications or caveats filed with respect to the estate.

5 STEP 4: File supporting documents in Court Once the originating summons, Statement, certified true copy of the death certificate and will are filed, an electronic checklist will be generated and the following must then be filed using an electronic filing checklist: (i) a schedule of assets listing the property comprising the estate of the deceased in accordance with the Family Justice Court Practice Directions; (i) an administration oath by the applicant executor / administrator; and (ii) any other documents that may be required under the Probate and Administration Act, the Family Justice Rules or by the Court. STEP 5: Submission of original Will The original will must be submitted to the Probate Counter by 4.30 pm of the next working day after the filing of the originating summons for verification. The Probate Counter will return the original will to the applicant after verifying that the certified true copy of the documents in the court file is an exact copy of the original document. STEP 6: Court hearing and extraction of Grant When the Court is satisfied that the originating summons, Statement and supporting documents have been properly filed and verified, the Court will inform you / your lawyer of the hearing date and time. Once the Court accepts the supporting affidavit and Schedule of Assets, confirms that there are no other documents required, you / your lawyer will generally be able to request for the extraction of the grant. A final litigation search in the record of caveats and record of probate applications needs to be conducted to ascertain whether there are any caveats in force or pending probate applications in respect of the testator s assets. If all the documents are in order and all fees are paid, the Court will prepare and issue the Grant of Probate / Letter of Administration with the engrossed Schedule of Assets annexed. We can assist applicants with their applications, the conduct of the relevant searches and the completion of any relevant forms. will complete the relevant forms, and apply to the court for a Grant of Letters of Administration.

6 ESTIMATED DURATION The time taken for the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration depends on the complexity of the matter, such as the difficulty of ascertaining and valuing the assets of the testator. For the Grant of Probate, if all the information required can be provided, and the value of the assets are easily ascertainable, the process may take about 3 4 months. For Grant of Letters of Administration, the process on average takes more than 6 months. Once the court issues the Grant of Probate / Letters of Administration, the Administrator must distribute the assets in accordance with the Will or the Intestate Succession Act (as the case may be).

7 DIAGRAM #2 RULES OF DISTRIBUTION UNDER THE INTESTATE SUCCESSION ACT SURVIVED BY ABSENT DISTRIBUTION Spouse Spouse and Issue Issue Spouse and Parent No Parent Whole share to surviving spouse ½ share to surviving spouse ½ share to be shared equally among issue (Parents have no entitlement) Whole share to be shared equally amongst the children of the person dying intestate and such persons who legally represent those children who are dead (e.g. grandchildren) (Parents have no entitlement) ½ share to surviving spouse ½ share to be shared equally among surviving parents Parent Whole share to be shared equally among surviving parents Siblings Grandparents Uncles and Aunts No Parents No Parents No siblings and their issue No Parents No siblings and their issue No Grandparents Whole share to be shared equally among surviving siblings or where a sibling has passed away, with that sibling s children Whole share to be shared equally among surviving grandparents Whole share to be shared equally among surviving uncles and aunts None of the above All of the above Whole share to the Government Note: Issue includes children and the descendants of deceased children.

8 Instead of applying to court for a Grant of Probate or a Grant of Letters of Administration, you may consider applying to the Public Trustee to administer the estate if: o The estate is worth less than $50,000; o No court application for Letters of Administration or Grant of Probate has been filed; o There are no conflicting claims to the estate or disputes among the beneficiaries; o The estate has no outstanding debts or liabilities; o The deceased did not have shares or any other interests in foreign or local unlisted companies; o The deceased was not a partner or sole proprietor of a firm or other businesses, or did not have any interest in a firm or other businesses; o The deceased was the sole owner of a HDB flat, and the person eligible to inherit the whole or part of that flat is not a child; o There are no pending lawsuits which involve the deceased; o There are no insurance policies in which one or more people have been nominated as beneficiaries; o There are no trust bank accounts opened with a child; and o There are no commercial vehicles involved (e.g. taxis). The Public Trustee charges the following fees for the administration of estate: VALUE OF ESTATE CHARGE For the first $5, % For the next $2, % For the next $3, % For the next $10, % For the next $30, % The fees (including GST) will be deducted from the estate money and cannot be waived. A minimum of $15 will be deducted. Note: Please refer to the Ministry of Law s website for further details: