Johnathan Lee Kui Bao

By Johnathan Lee, Advocate and Solicitor (Singapore). Updated 19 September 2026.

In Singapore, if a non-Muslim dies without a will, the Intestate Succession Act 1967 decides who inherits: a surviving spouse with children takes half of the estate, and the children share the other half between them per stirpes, meaning that if a child has already died, that child’s own children divide the share their parent would have taken. Before assets can be released, a beneficiary, usually the spouse, must obtain Letters of Administration from the Family Justice Courts, and the application should be filed within 6 months of the death. If the estate is worth $50,000 or less, excluding Dependants’ Protection Scheme proceeds, and holds nothing more complicated than bank accounts, listed shares and personal effects, the Public Trustee’s Office can administer it without a court application or a lawyer.

Who inherits if you die without a will in Singapore?

For non-Muslims, section 7 of the Intestate Succession Act 1967 answers this with nine fixed rules. The law does not ask what you would have wanted or who needs the money most; it works down a list of family classes and stops at the first class that survives you.

Who survives you	How the estate is divided
Spouse only (no children or descendants, no parents)	Spouse takes the whole estate
Spouse and children	Spouse takes half; the children share the other half between them per stirpes
Children only	Children share the whole estate per stirpes; a deceased child’s own children step into that child’s share
Spouse and parents (no children)	Spouse takes half; parents share the other half
Parents only	Parents take the whole estate in equal portions
Brothers and sisters	Shared equally; children of a deceased sibling take their parent’s share
Grandparents	Shared equally
Uncles and aunts	Shared equally
None of the above	The Government takes the whole estate (rule 9)

Several things surprise families most often. First, “children” means legitimate or legally adopted children, so unadopted stepchildren and unmarried partners inherit nothing under these rules. That definition is narrower than it sounds: a child born outside marriage does not inherit from the father under these rules, and an adoption counts only where the order was made by a court in Singapore, Malaysia or Brunei Darussalam, so an adoption order obtained elsewhere may not qualify. Second, the rules only govern assets in your sole name: joint tenancy property passes to the surviving joint owner, and insurance policies with nominated beneficiaries are paid out separately. If that is not what you would choose, the answer is a will; I explain the requirements in my guide to making a valid will in Singapore.

Who applies for Letters of Administration when there is no will?

The person with the largest entitlement under the Intestate Succession Act generally has the strongest claim to apply, so for most non-Muslim estates that is the surviving spouse, followed by the children. The application is made to the Family Justice Courts for a grant of Letters of Administration, the court order that lets the administrator collect assets, pay debts and distribute the remainder.

An applicant must be at least 21 and mentally capable. Lower-priority family members can still apply, but usually need those ahead of them to renounce or consent. Where any beneficiary is under 21, section 6(2) of the Probate and Administration Act 1934 requires letters of administration to be granted either to a trust corporation, with or without an individual, or to not less than 2 individuals. That is a requirement, not a safeguard the court may choose to add: a surviving spouse with young children cannot take the grant on her own, and will usually need a second administrator, often an adult child or a sibling. A trust corporation is the alternative to finding a second individual, and section 6(6) defines it as the Public Trustee or a corporation licensed as a trust company. The life-interest limb of section 6(2) is tied to a life interest arising under a will, so on an intestacy it is the minority interest that ordinarily bites. Section 6(4) is a different power, and a discretionary one: it lets the court appoint an additional personal representative after a grant has already been made to a sole administrator, while a minority or life interest subsists.

You may file the application yourself, and the courts say so plainly. The application should be filed within 6 months of the date of death (a later filing must explain the delay), and the courts estimate processing takes around 2 to 3 months. The supporting affidavit, which exhibits the sealed originating application and, if available, the Schedule of Assets, must be filed within 14 days after the originating application is filed (Family Justice Courts Practice Directions 2024, para 209). The Schedule of Assets matters for more than form: it fixes the sworn value of the estate, and that is the figure any surety has to be good for. Many families still instruct a lawyer because the paperwork is unforgiving: mistakes mean rejected filings and months of delay while bank accounts stay frozen. I have set out the process step by step in my Letters of Administration guide.

What security must an administrator give?

This is the step families do not expect. Section 29(7) of the Probate and Administration Act 1934 requires the person to whom a grant of letters of administration is made to give security for the due administration of the estate. Under section 29(2), that security is ordinarily by bond in the prescribed form, given by the grantee and 2 sureties, in the amount at which the estate within the jurisdiction is sworn. For grants from the Family Division, that applies to every grant of letters of administration. Section 29(8) treats a Family Court grant differently: a grantee of letters of administration from a Family Court is not required to give security unless the person for whose use and benefit the grant is made is an infant, or the Family Court thinks fit to require it. In practice, for grants from a Family Court, sureties are required where the estate exceeds $5 million, where there is a minority interest, where there is a life interest, where a beneficiary lacks capacity within the meaning of the Mental Capacity Act 2008, where the grantee is a creditor, and in such other cases as the Registrar thinks fit (Family Justice Courts Practice Directions 2024, para 214). Section 29(4) puts the Public Trustee outside all of this: where the Public Trustee has obtained a grant of letters of administration, he is not required to give security.

A surety must be good for the sworn value of the estate. The Practice Directions also bar a surety from justifying on protected property under section 51 of the Housing and Development Act 1959, or on money in a CPF account that the surety is not entitled to withdraw. In practice this is where families run aground: the relatives willing to stand as sureties are often the ones whose wealth is in a flat and in CPF, and so cannot qualify.

Sureties are not always required. Section 29(5) provides that where the administrator is entitled to the whole of the estate after payment of the debts, sureties in the bond may ordinarily be dispensed with. That covers a common intestacy shape: a sole beneficiary who takes everything, such as a surviving spouse where there are no children and no surviving parent. Otherwise, you can apply to have the sureties dispensed with. The application is made by summons under section 29(3), supported by an affidavit deposed to by all the administrators, and accompanied by the consents in writing of all adult beneficiaries to the dispensation, duly signed in the presence of a solicitor or any person before whom an affidavit can be sworn or affirmed (para 215). Gathering those consents is the stage at which do-it-yourself applications most often stall. If there is a minority interest in the estate, take advice before you file rather than after.

When do you not need a lawyer at all?

If the whole estate is worth $50,000 or less (excluding Dependants’ Protection Scheme proceeds), you may not need a lawyer or even a court application. The Public Trustee’s Office can administer these small estates directly: a family member applies online with Singpass, declares the assets, and the Public Trustee collects and distributes them under intestacy law. I say this deliberately: if your situation fits, use this route and keep your money.

The Public Trustee charges a sliding fee taken from the estate, starting at 6.5% on the first $5,000 and falling on higher bands, minimum $15 (GST included, no waiver). It can handle bank deposits, SGX-listed shares, unpaid salary, fully paid non-commercial vehicles and safe deposit box contents. Immovable property is not on that list. The Public Trustee’s own exclusions name an estate where the deceased was the sole owner of an HDB flat and a child is eligible to inherit the whole or part of it, and it says it will consider administering a deceased’s share in an HDB flat only where the share is of small value, and only case by case. In practice, if the deceased owned an HDB flat or private property in their sole name, expect to need a court grant whatever the estate is worth: the flat cannot be transferred until a grant of Letters of Administration has been obtained.

The estate falls outside the service altogether, and a court application becomes necessary, where for example:

• the estate exceeds $50,000;
• it includes unlisted company shares, a business or a partnership interest;
• the deceased was the sole owner of an HDB flat and a child is eligible to inherit the whole or part of it;
• there are outstanding debts, pending lawsuits or conflicting claims among family members.

What happens to CPF savings if there is no nomination?

CPF savings are not part of your estate and are not covered by a will or by Letters of Administration. If the deceased made a CPF nomination, the CPF Board pays the nominees directly. If not, the Board transfers the money to the Public Trustee, whatever the amount, for distribution under the Intestate Succession Act, or under faraid for Muslims.

This service is not free: the Public Trustee deducts a tiered fee starting at 2.4% on the first $1,000, subject to a $15 minimum, with GST included and no waiver. Next of kin apply online, and distribution generally follows within about 4 weeks of the full documentation being received. This is a separate process from the small-estate service described above, and it has its own fee scale. A family with a small estate and un-nominated CPF savings will pay the estate-monies fee on the estate and the CPF fee on the CPF savings.

A CPF nomination is free, takes minutes online, and lets your family receive the money directly and faster. I cover nominations alongside wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney on my wills and LPA page, because the three work best as a set.

How are Muslim estates different?

Section 2 of the Intestate Succession Act expressly excludes Muslim estates. The estate of a Muslim domiciled in Singapore is instead distributed under faraid, the Islamic law of inheritance, under section 112 of the Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966.

In practice, the family obtains a Certificate of Inheritance from the Syariah Court under section 115 of the Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966, stating who the beneficiaries are and each person’s share under faraid. The grant application itself is still made to the Family Justice Courts, but distribution follows the certificate rather than the section 7 table above. The Public Trustee applies the same faraid shares to un-nominated CPF monies. If you are dealing with a Muslim estate, take advice early: the treatment of nominations and jointly held assets depends on how each asset is held.

What commonly goes wrong when there is no will?

Before I became a lawyer, I was a funeral director in my family’s funeral business. I have stood in the room in the days after a death, when a family discovers that the bank accounts are frozen, nobody knows what the deceased owned, and nobody agrees on who should take charge. A wake lasts days; an intestate estate can take a year or more.

The recurring problems are these. Unmarried partners and unadopted stepchildren receive nothing, however long they cared for the deceased. Siblings quarrel over who should be administrator, and every renunciation adds weeks. A young widow discovers her late husband’s parents are entitled to half of the estate because the couple had no children. None of this is exotic; it is simply intestacy law meeting an unprepared family.

The fix is simple: a valid will naming your executor and beneficiaries, a CPF nomination, and ideally a Lasting Power of Attorney. The Government’s My Legacy portal walks the public through the basics; to do it properly, start with my guide to making a valid will.

---

Frequently asked questions

What happens if you die without a will in Singapore?

For non-Muslims, the Intestate Succession Act 1967 distributes your estate under nine fixed rules: for example, a spouse takes half and the children share the other half between them per stirpes. A family member must apply to the Family Justice Courts for Letters of Administration before assets can be dealt with, unless the estate is worth $50,000 or less and fits the Public Trustee’s small-estate criteria, in which case the Public Trustee can administer it.

Who inherits if there is no will and no children?

If a non-Muslim dies leaving a spouse but no children or other descendants, the spouse takes half and the deceased’s parents share the other half. If there are no parents either, the spouse takes everything. Without a spouse or descendants, the estate goes to parents, then siblings, then grandparents, then uncles and aunts, in that order.

Do I need a lawyer if the estate is under $50,000?

Usually not, if the estate fits the Public Trustee’s criteria. The Public Trustee’s Office can administer estates worth $50,000 or less (excluding Dependants’ Protection Scheme proceeds) without a lawyer or court application. You apply online with Singpass, and the Public Trustee deducts a sliding fee starting at 6.5% on the first $5,000, minimum $15. But the gateway is narrow: it excludes any estate holding immovable property, a business, unlisted shares, outstanding debts or a family dispute. Whenever the estate falls outside it you will need a court application. The courts do not require a lawyer for that application, though many families instruct one. That is not a case of the Public Trustee declining; such an estate was never eligible for the service in the first place.

Does the Intestate Succession Act apply to Muslims in Singapore?

No. Section 2 of the Act excludes Muslim estates. A Muslim domiciled in Singapore has their estate distributed under faraid, per section 112 of the Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966, and the family obtains a Certificate of Inheritance from the Syariah Court stating each beneficiary’s share. The grant application itself is still made to the civil courts.

Do unmarried partners or stepchildren inherit under intestacy?

No. The Intestate Succession Act recognises only spouses, and legitimate or legally adopted children, plus the blood relatives in its nine rules. An unmarried partner or a stepchild who was never legally adopted receives nothing under intestacy, regardless of how long you lived together. If you want them provided for, you must make a will.

This article is general information, not legal advice. It states Singapore law as at September 2026. Speak to a lawyer about your specific situation.