How to Make a Valid Will in Singapore

A will is the document that lets you decide who inherits your assets, appoint an executor to carry out your wishes, and name guardians for young children. In Singapore the rules on what makes a will valid come from the Wills Act 1838, and the formalities are strict: most homemade wills that fail do so because the witnessing was not done correctly.

This guide sets out what the law requires for a valid will, the trap around witnesses who are also beneficiaries, and the separate position of CPF savings and Muslim wills.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. Consult a qualified advocate and solicitor about your situation.

Who can make a will

Under section 4 of the Wills Act 1838, a will made by a person under 21 years of age is not valid. The testator must also have the mental capacity to make a will, meaning they understand that they are making a will, the extent of their property, and who might expect to benefit.

The formalities under section 6

Section 6 of the Wills Act, headed "Mode of execution", sets out how a will must be signed and witnessed. A will is not valid unless:

• it is in writing;
• it is signed at the foot or end by the testator, or by someone else in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction;
• the testator makes or acknowledges that signature in the presence of 2 or more witnesses present at the same time; and
• those witnesses then sign the will in the presence of the testator.

No particular form of attestation wording is required, but the sequence matters. The two witnesses must both be present together when the testator signs or acknowledges the signature. A will witnessed by two people separately, or signed by the testator before the witnesses arrive without being re-acknowledged in front of them together, risks being invalid.

The witness-beneficiary trap

Section 10 of the Wills Act contains a rule that catches families who ask a relative to witness the will. If a person witnesses the will, and that person or their spouse is given a gift under it, the gift is void as far as that witness or spouse is concerned.

The important nuance is that only that particular gift fails. The will itself remains valid and everyone else's gifts are unaffected. Still, the practical rule is simple: never ask someone you are leaving something to, or their spouse, to act as a witness. Two independent witnesses who take nothing under the will are the safe choice.

Do you need a lawyer

A will does not have to be drawn up by a lawyer to be valid, and the Wills Act imposes no requirement for a notary or court. However, a professionally drafted will is far less likely to contain formality errors, ambiguous wording or gaps that lead to disputes after death. For anything beyond a very simple estate, professional drafting is worthwhile.

Foreign wills

If a will was executed abroad, the Wills Act also contains a conflict-of-laws rule (section 5) treating a will as properly executed if it complied with the law of the place where it was made, or where the testator was domiciled, habitually resident or a national. This matters for people with assets or connections in more than one country, who should take advice on how their wills interact.

What a will cannot control

A will does not reach everything you own. Two categories sit outside it.

Your CPF savings do not form part of your estate and cannot be given away by your will. They pass by a separate CPF nomination, and a will has no effect on them.

Assets you own jointly, and assets already covered by a specific nomination such as certain insurance policies, may also pass outside the will by their own rules.

Muslim wills

Muslim wills are treated differently. Under section 111 of the Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966, a Muslim domiciled in Singapore must dispose of property by will in accordance with the school of Muslim law they profess. In practice this means a Muslim can leave at most one-third of the estate by will, and generally only to people who are not already fixed heirs under faraid. That one-third limit is a rule of Muslim law rather than a figure stated in the Act itself, so guidance from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) should be followed on the detail.

The remaining estate of a Muslim is distributed under Muslim law. How that works, and the position where a Muslim dies without a will, is covered on the intestate succession page.

After death: probate

Making the will is only the first half. After death, the executor named in the will normally has to obtain a Grant of Probate from the Family Justice Courts before the estate can be distributed.

This guide is part of the wills, estates and power of attorney in Singapore section, which links the related guides on planning ahead and settling an estate.