How to Write a Will in Singapore: Costs, Templates and Legal Requirements

Only 22% of Singaporeans surveyed by YouGov in April 2024 said they had a legally drafted will, showing that formal will-writing remains relatively uncommon.

A will is a legal document that sets out how your estate should be distributed after you die and can appoint a testamentary guardian for children under 21. The Wills Act 1838 has let any mentally sound adult make one from the age of 21, and a properly executed one needs nothing more exotic than a signed original and two witnesses present at the same time.

You do not need a lawyer to make a valid will in Singapore. What matters is that the will meets the Wills Act's formalities and is executed correctly, not a law firm's letterhead, so you can start the moment you decide to.

You have three practical routes to get there: drafting it yourself, using a guided online platform, or having a lawyer prepare it, and the right one depends on how straightforward your estate and family situation are rather than on how much you own.

This guide explains the legal requirements, walks through the will-writing process step by step, compares DIY, online and lawyer-drafted costs, and covers witnesses, executors, what to do after signing, and what happens if you don't have a will at all.

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How to write a will in Singapore: requirements at a glance

Before the step-by-step process, here's what Singapore law actually requires for a will to hold up.

Source: Wills Act 1838 and MyLegacy@LifeSG (as of 6 September 2026).

What is a will and why do you need one?

A will lets you decide, in your own words, what happens to what you leave behind, rather than defaulting to a statutory formula. It can determine:

•    Who receives your estate, and in what proportions

•    Who manages the estate as executor

•    Who should care for children under 21

•    What happens to the remainder of your estate once specific gifts are settled

•    What happens if a beneficiary dies before you do

Die without one, and your estate is generally distributed under the Intestate Succession Act 1967 for non-Muslims: a fixed formula that has nothing to do with what you actually wanted, and that may not reflect your wishes at all. With no executor named, an eligible person typically has to apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration before the estate can be distributed.

Who should consider writing a will?

Wills aren't just for the wealthy or the elderly. A will becomes particularly important if you have children under 21, own property or investments, support parents or other dependants, are part of a blended family, hold assets overseas, or simply want a distribution that differs from Singapore's intestacy rules.

What can and cannot be included in a Singapore will?

This is one of the biggest sources of confusion, and it's worth a table of its own.

Source: CPF Board, Great Eastern Life and MoneySense (as of 6 September 2026).

What a Singapore will covers, and what it doesn't

Your CPF nomination is separate from your will

A CPF nomination covers your CPF Ordinary, Special, MediSave and Retirement Account savings, your CPF LIFE premium balance, and any discounted Singtel shares bought through CPF schemes. Your will has no reach into any of it, and the mechanics of making one are set out on CPF Board's own site.

Will → estate assets. CPF nomination → CPF savings and the two items above.

Without a nomination, the CPF Board pays your CPF savings to the Public Trustee's Office, which distributes them according to intestacy rules or, for Muslims, an inheritance certificate. That route can take up to six months, deducts administration charges along the way, and gives you no say in how much each person receives. A five-minute nomination avoids all three problems.

How to write a will in Singapore, step by step

The process is more procedural than complicated. Here's what actually goes into a valid, usable will, in order.

How to write a will in Singapore, step by step

Step 1: List the assets that form your estate

Start with everything you own: bank accounts, cash, investment portfolios, shares and ETFs, property, business interests, insurance proceeds that fall into the estate, vehicles, jewellery and other valuables, digital assets, and anything held overseas.

MyLegacy recommends keeping a separate asset list alongside the will and updating it whenever a major asset changes, rather than folding every account number into the will itself. The distinction is practical: your will decides who receives assets and in what proportion; your asset inventory records where those assets are held and how they can be located. Naming a specific bank balance in the will means rewriting the will every time that balance moves. A percentage of the residuary estate does not.

Step 2: Decide who your beneficiaries are

A beneficiary is anyone you name to receive part of your estate. Most wills combine two approaches.

Specific gifts name a particular asset: a property, a fixed dollar amount, jewellery, shares, or another named item.

Percentage of the estate allocates proportions instead, for example 50% to a spouse and 25% each to two children. Percentages tend to hold up better than fixed sums when the value and composition of an estate changes substantially over the years between writing the will and it taking effect.

Step 3: Decide what happens if a beneficiary dies before you

Your will should still state what happens if a beneficiary dies before you. The legal outcome can depend on who the beneficiary is, the wording of the will, and whether another provision of the Wills Act applies: section 26 prevents a gift to the testator's own child or other issue from lapsing if that person predeceases the testator but leaves issue of their own, unless the will shows a contrary intention. An express backup beneficiary or survivorship clause reduces uncertainty for every other case, rather than relying on the gift passing to surviving beneficiaries, falling into the residuary estate, or going to a named alternative by default.

Step 4: Choose an executor

The executor is the person who administers your estate after you die: identifying assets, applying for probate, settling debts, and distributing what remains.

Source: MyLegacy@LifeSG (as of 6 September 2026).

An executor can be a family member, a friend, or a professional. It's worth naming an alternate in case your first choice can't act when the time comes.

What the executor actually does, in order:

1.   Locate the original will

2.   Identify the estate's assets and liabilities

3.   Apply for a Grant of Probate where required

4.   Settle debts, taxes and expenses

5.   Manage the estate's assets

6.   Distribute what remains according to the will

A Grant of Probate can be applied for by the executor or executors named in the will. Singapore Courts also offers a Probate eService for certain straightforward cases: the deceased must have been a Singapore citizen or permanent resident domiciled here who died in Singapore and was not Muslim, the estate must be worth no more than S$2 million, and the application must be made by a single named executor under an English-language will witnessed by two people, among other conditions. A certified copy of the will is uploaded digitally, but the original still has to be presented in person at the Family Justice Courts for verification. Being an executor doesn't by itself disqualify someone from also witnessing the will, unless that executor is also a beneficiary, in which case independent witnesses should be used instead.

Step 5: Appoint a guardian if you have children under 21

If you have children under 21, you can appoint a testamentary guardian in your will: the person who'd raise them if both parents die. If the other parent is still alive, separate rules under the Guardianship of Infants Act 1934 govern how the appointed guardian and surviving parent act, and a court can always step in with the child's welfare as the paramount consideration. Consult that person before naming them, and think about an alternate guardian too. Physical guardianship and financial trusteeship over a child's inheritance don't have to sit with the same person, and sometimes shouldn't.

Step 6: Decide how the rest of your estate should be distributed

The residuary clause covers everything left over once specific gifts, debts, expenses and other distributions have been dealt with.

After specific gifts, debts, expenses and other distributions are settled, the residuary clause determines who receives everything that remains.

This is what stops a forgotten bank account, a new investment you opened after signing the will, or anything else you didn't specifically mention from falling into partial intestacy.

Step 7: Draft the will

Use this as your checklist for what a Singapore will should actually contain:

1.   Identification of the person making the will

2.   A revocation clause cancelling previous wills and codicils

3.   Appointment of an executor

4.   An alternate executor, where appropriate

5.   Appointment of a guardian for children under 21, where relevant

6.   Beneficiaries

7.   Specific gifts

8.   Distribution proportions

9.   Instructions for if a beneficiary dies before the testator

10.      A residuary clause

11.      An execution and witness section

Source: MyLegacy@LifeSG (as of 6 September 2026).

Step 8: Sign the will correctly in front of two witnesses

Get the drafting wrong and it may still be fixable. Get the execution wrong and the whole will can fail, which is why this step deserves more attention than any other.

Testator, Witness 1 and Witness 2 together in the same room, at the same time: the testator signs or acknowledges their signature, then both witnesses sign in the testator's presence. Section 6 of the Wills Act requires the two witnesses to be present at the same time when the testator signs or acknowledges the signature. Signing separately, or with only one witness present at a time, does not satisfy this.

Who can witness a will? As a practical rule, use two independent witnesses who are neither beneficiaries nor the spouses of beneficiaries. Under section 10 of the Wills Act, a gift or beneficial appointment to an attesting witness or that witness's spouse can be void, even though the will itself can remain otherwise valid.

Can your executor witness your will? Yes. Being named executor doesn't by itself prevent someone from being a competent witness. If that executor is also a beneficiary, use independent witnesses instead.

How much does it cost to make a will in Singapore?

Cost scales with complexity, not with how much you own.

 Source: IRB Law, Singapore Legal Advice and SAL Wills Registry (as of 6 September 2026).

The MyLegacy Will Preparation Template is not a legal will

MyLegacy's free Will Learning Tool produces a personalised Will Preparation Template you can bring to a lawyer. It does not itself create a legal will. The distinction matters because the free template helps organise your decisions, but it does not become a valid will simply because it has been completed; it still needs to be turned into a properly executed document.

DIY will vs online will vs lawyer: which should you use?

The right route depends on what your estate and family situation actually look like, not on your budget alone. Here's how the three ways of producing a legally valid will hold up against the scenarios that tend to matter most. The free MyLegacy preparation tool above isn't included here, since it organises your instructions but isn't itself a will.

A straightforward estate may not need a bespoke lawyer-drafted will. Complexity, rather than estate size alone, is the better test for whether professional advice is worth paying for. Further reading: Online will service vs. a lawyer in Singapore.

Create your will online with MakeGoodwill

If you'd rather not draft a will from scratch, MakeGoodwill guides you through the process with simple questions about your beneficiaries, executor, guardians and how you want your estate distributed.

Once completed, print and sign your will in front of two independent witnesses for it to take legal effect.

For SGD 179, you get a will designed by lawyers to comply with Singapore law, a year of unlimited edits, lifetime account access, support from the will-writing team and a 30-day money-back guarantee. A partner's will costs SGD 89.50 in the same checkout, and after the first year, continuing unlimited edits is optional at SGD 35 a year. See what a MakeGoodwill will cost.

When should you consider using a lawyer?

Complexity, not wealth, is the trigger. Cases worth a lawyer's involvement include:

•    Overseas assets or property

•    A business or private-company shares

•    A blended family

•    Children from a previous relationship

•    A beneficiary with special needs

•    A large or complicated estate

•    Trust structures

•    Conditions attached to an inheritance

•    Beneficiaries living overseas

•    A real risk of dispute among family members

•    Questions over mental capacity

•    Multiple wills in different countries

•    Muslim estate-planning requirements

What should you do after signing your will?

Keep the original physical document somewhere safe. Singapore's Probate eService requires the original will to be presented in person for verification when an executor applies for probate, so a scanned copy alone isn't enough.

Make sure your executor knows three things: that a will exists, where the original is stored, and how to access it after your death. Storing the only original somewhere your executor can't reach defeats the purpose of writing one at all.

Should you register your will in Singapore?

Singapore does not require a will to be registered for it to be valid. The SAL Wills Registry, run by the Singapore Academy of Law since it took over from the Public Trustee's Office on 4 May 2020, records the testator's details, the will's date, who prepared it, and where it's stored. It does not hold the will itself or a copy of it.

Deposit: S$50 per submission. Search: S$10 per submission.

When should you update your will?

Update it around life events, not on a fixed schedule. Review your will after:

•    Marriage

•    Divorce or separation

•    The birth or adoption of a child

•    The death of a beneficiary

•    The death or incapacity of an executor

•    Buying or selling major property

•    Starting or selling a business

•    A significant change in wealth

•    Moving overseas

•    Acquiring substantial overseas assets

•    A change in family relationships

Does marriage cancel an existing will in Singapore?

Generally, yes. Section 13 of the Wills Act revokes an existing will on marriage, unless an exception applies, such as a will made expressly in contemplation of that particular marriage. This catches people off guard often enough that it deserves to be stated plainly rather than buried in a checklist.

What happens if you die without a will in Singapore?

Non-Muslims who die without a will are distributed under the Intestate Succession Act 1967, a fixed formula rather than a reflection of what you'd have chosen.

 Source: MoneySense and Great Eastern Life (as of 6 September 2026).

What happens if you die without a will in Singapore?

Example: someone dies leaving a spouse, two children and surviving parents. The spouse receives 50% and the two children split the remaining 50%. The parents, despite surviving them, receive nothing.

Without a will, there's also no executor named by the deceased. An eligible person may instead need to apply to the Family Justice Courts for a Grant of Letters of Administration, which can involve additional steps and less certainty over who administers the estate compared with naming your own executor.

MakeGoodwill's free tool, The Split, asks five questions about your own situation, lets you divide your estate the way you assume the law would, then shows you what the Intestate Succession Act actually does with it if you don’t have a will. About a minute, no sign-up: Work out who would inherit your estate

Muslim wills and inheritance in Singapore

The Intestate Succession Act does not apply to the estate of a Muslim Singapore citizen or permanent resident. Muslim inheritance operates under different rules entirely.

Muslim inheritance is generally governed by Faraid, and a Wasiat is the Muslim equivalent of a will. A Wasiat can only bequeath up to one-third of the estate, and only to people who would not otherwise inherit under Faraid. A valid Wasiat needs two Muslim male witnesses, both 21 or older and not beneficiaries or Faraid heirs. Where someone dies without a Wasiat, an eligible person can apply to the Syariah Court for an Inheritance Certificate, which identifies the Faraid beneficiaries and their shares based on the facts provided, in place of the civil intestacy table above. CPF savings sit outside a Wasiat too, in the same way they sit outside a civil will: a separate CPF nomination is still the way to direct those.

Given how narrowly a Wasiat can redirect an estate, professional advice from MUIS or a lawyer familiar with Syariah succession is worth seeking rather than adapting a standard civil-will template.

Will vs CPF nomination vs LPA: they do different things

Singapore's estate-planning toolkit has three documents that get confused for each other constantly, and they're not interchangeable.

Writing a will does not replace making a CPF nomination or an LPA. Each covers a gap the others leave open.

Will vs CPF nomination vs LPA: when each one applies

Frequently asked questions about wills in Singapore

Here are the questions people ask most often when they're about to write one.

Can I write my own will in Singapore?

Yes. A lawyer isn't legally required, provided the will satisfies the Wills Act's formalities: in writing, signed by you at the foot, and witnessed by two people present at the same time.

Is a handwritten will valid in Singapore?

There's no special format requirement. What matters is that the will is in writing, signed by the testator, and properly witnessed, whether typed or handwritten.

Can I make a will online in Singapore?

You can prepare the document online, but executing a legally valid will still requires printing it and signing in front of two witnesses in person. Preparing online and executing validly are two separate steps.

Is there a free will template in Singapore?

MyLegacy's free Will Preparation Template helps you organise your instructions, but it is not itself a legal will. It still needs to go into a properly drafted and executed document.

How much does a will cost in Singapore?

A DIY will costs S$0 in drafting fees. A straightforward lawyer-drafted will runs S$200 to S$400, and a complex one involving trusts or overseas assets starts from around S$500.

Do I need a lawyer to make a will?

No, the Wills Act doesn't require one. A complex estate, a blended family, or assets held overseas are good reasons to get one involved anyway.

How many witnesses does a Singapore will need?

Two, present at the same time when you sign or acknowledge your signature. Both must then also sign in your presence for the execution to be valid.

Can a beneficiary witness my will?

They can technically attest the will, but they should not. Under section 10 of the Wills Act, a gift or beneficial appointment to an attesting witness or that witness's spouse can be void, even though the rest of the will remains valid. Use two independent witnesses instead.

Can my executor also be a beneficiary?

Yes, an executor can also inherit under the will. The restriction on beneficiaries applies to witnesses, not to executors.

Does CPF money go according to my will?

No. CPF savings do not form part of your estate and cannot be distributed through your will, whether or not you've made a nomination. A CPF nomination lets you decide who receives those savings; without one, they're distributed through the Public Trustee's Office under the applicable rules.

Do I need to register my will?

No. Depositing details with the SAL Wills Registry is optional and costs S$50.

Where should I keep my will?

Keep the original physical document somewhere secure, and make sure your executor knows it exists and how to access it. The Probate eService requires the original for verification.

Does marriage invalidate my will?

Generally yes, under section 13 of the Wills Act. The exception is a will made expressly in contemplation of that particular marriage, which survives it.

What happens to my will after divorce?

Divorce doesn't automatically revoke a will the way marriage does. Review the will immediately after a divorce rather than assuming its existing provisions still reflect what you want.

What happens if I die without a will?

Your estate is distributed under the Intestate Succession Act 1967, a fixed statutory formula, not according to your personal wishes. A next-of-kin also has to apply to court for a Grant of Letters of Administration before anything can be distributed.

Can a will cover overseas assets?

Sometimes. Foreign succession and property law can affect the outcome, so professional advice is worth getting for any cross-border estate.

Can I leave money to charity in my will?

Yes. Identify the intended charity correctly, including its registered name, to avoid disputes over which organisation was meant.

Can I change my will later?

Yes, through a codicil for a minor change or a full replacement will for a substantial one. A clear replacement document is usually the safer route once changes go beyond a single clause.

Making a will is one part of your estate plan

A will is the document that decides who receives your estate and who administers it, but it's one piece of a larger plan, not the whole thing.

1.   Write a valid will that decides who receives your estate and who administers it.

2.   Make a CPF nomination, since your CPF savings can't be distributed through your will.

3.   Put a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, which covers decision-making if you lose mental capacity while alive.

4.   Make sure the right people can locate the documents, particularly the original will.

If you're also reviewing how your investments fit into your broader financial plan, explore StashAway's investment portfolios.