Dying without a will: how Singapore law divides the estate

When the statutory rules take over

A person who dies without leaving a valid will is said to die 'intestate'. If they were not Muslim, the Intestate Succession Act then decides who receives the estate and in what proportions. The same applies where a will exists but is later found to be invalid.

Muslim estates are treated differently. They are distributed under Muslim law through the Administration of Muslim Law Act, and the Syariah Court issues an inheritance certificate setting out each heir's share.

The order of entitlement

The Act works through relatives in groups. A later group only takes something if nobody in the earlier groups is alive. In outline:

• A spouse, with no children and no surviving parents: the whole estate goes to the spouse.
• A spouse and children: the spouse receives one half, and the children divide the other half equally. Surviving parents take nothing here.
• A spouse and parents, but no children: the spouse receives one half and the parents share the other half.
• Children but no spouse: the children share the estate equally.
• No spouse and no children: the parents share the estate.
• After that, entitlement passes in turn to brothers and sisters, then grandparents, then uncles and aunts.
• With no relatives in any of these groups, the estate goes to the State.

What the default rules cannot do

The shares are fixed. There is no way, without a will, to leave something to a friend, a charity or a relative outside the list, or to leave out someone the Act includes. A family where the parents are elderly and depend on an adult child, for example, may be surprised that those parents receive nothing when the child leaves a spouse and children.

Assets that follow a separate route

Some property never enters the shares at all. CPF savings are paid to the people named in a CPF nomination; where nobody was nominated, the Public Trustee's Office distributes them under the intestacy rules. Life insurance with a valid nomination is paid to the nominee. A flat or account held as joint tenants passes automatically to the surviving co-owner.

Someone still has to apply to court

Banks, HDB and insurers will generally not release assets held in the deceased's sole name until someone shows them a court grant. Where there is no will, that grant is called letters of administration. The right to apply follows a priority order that starts with the spouse, then the children, then the parents and more distant relatives.

If a beneficiary is under 21, at least two administrators are needed. For a Muslim estate, the inheritance certificate is obtained first, and the person with the largest share usually applies.