How to write a will in Singapore

How to write a will in Singapore, step by step

Creating your will in Singapore comes down to three steps:

1. Answer a few guided questions online – Tell us about you, your family, your assets, your beneficiaries, and your executor. It takes about an hour, your progress saves automatically, and you can finish across two or three sessions.
2. Review, then print and sign – Check that everything reflects your wishes, then print your will and sign it in front of two independent witnesses.
3. Store it safely – Keep the signed original somewhere safe and tell your executor where to find it. Your digital copy stays in your account, so you can update your will any time your life changes.

It helps to have a few details ready before you begin – here is the full list of what to gather.

How long does it take to make a will?

The online part takes about an hour. The honest answer for the whole thing depends on one step, and it is not the typing.

• Answering the guided questions – about an hour. Your progress saves automatically, so most people do this across two or three sittings rather than in one go.
• Printing your will – a few minutes. Your will arrives as a single PDF with a signing instruction sheet, so any home or office printer will do.
• Arranging two independent witnesses – this is the step that sets the pace. You need two people who are not beneficiaries of your will and are not married to anyone who is, and all three of you have to be in the same room at the same time. Finding a date that suits everyone is usually what turns an afternoon into a couple of weeks.
• Signing – about 15 minutes. Your will is legally valid from the moment it is signed and witnessed correctly.

So you can finish in a single day if you already know who your witnesses will be. If you need to ask around and find a time that works, give yourself a week or two.

It is worth being clear about what is happening here: you create your will online, but it becomes legally valid offline. Nothing you do on a screen makes it a will. Printing it and signing it in front of two independent witnesses does.

What you need before you start

You do not need to prepare much, and none of it has to be final – you can change every answer later. Having these to hand simply means you will not have to stop halfway through and go looking.

Your own details

Your full legal name and NRIC or passport number, exactly as they appear on the document itself.

The people you will name

You will name a handful of people: an executor and a substitute, your beneficiaries, and guardians if your children are under 21. The same details cover all of them.

• Full legal name.
• An ID number – NRIC or FIN, passport, or a foreign ID. This is optional, though worth doing for everyone in your will. If someone has no government ID, use their date of birth instead.
• A date of birth for children under 21 years old.

Two of the roles are worth a moment's thought. Your executor carries out your wishes, so choose for trustworthiness, capability, and willingness to see probate through – and ask them before you name them. Guardians deserve the same conversation.

What you own

A rough list: property, bank accounts, investments, insurance policies, CPF, and anything else of value. You are helping your executor find things, not valuing your estate.

One thing worth knowing before you list anything: some assets may fall outside your will altogether, including CPF savings with a nomination and jointly held accounts and property.

The basics of creating a will

A will is both a legal document and a personal plan. It is a plan for your loved ones to understand your wishes and carry them out in your absence.

Beyond financial matters, wills also address guardianship of children and pets, enabling parents to specify custodial arrangements if both pass away unexpectedly.

There are two main methods of distributing assets in a will:

1. Specific gifts – Leave specific amounts of money, possessions, or accounts to identified individuals
2. Percentage allocation – Divide the remaining estate (after debts, taxes, and specified gifts) among beneficiaries by percentage

We recommend including substitute beneficiary designations to protect against scenarios where a primary beneficiary predeceases you.

Can you write your own will without a lawyer?

Yes. You do not need a lawyer to create a legally valid will in Singapore. As long as you are at least 21 and of sound mind, you can create your own will and have it recognised under Singapore law.

MakeGoodwill gives you a legally valid will without a lawyer – you answer a few guided questions, then print and sign your will in front of two independent witnesses. It is designed to comply with Singapore law, at a fraction of the cost of a traditional lawyer.

That said, some situations still call for tailored advice. If you have a complex estate, business interests, or assets overseas, it is worth speaking to an independent lawyer as well. For a side-by-side look at cost, time, and when each route makes sense, see making a will online vs a lawyer vs DIY.

Distributing your estate

It's important to know that certain assets fall outside the governance of a will:

• CPF savings – Retirement accounts with a separate CPF nomination managed by the CPF Board
• Nominated life insurance policies – These are paid directly to the nominated beneficiary
• Joint bank accounts and properties – These operate under survivorship rules, passing automatically to the surviving account holder

These nominations are automatically fulfilled by the organisations that manage the funds upon death, regardless of what your will states.

What happens if you pass away without a will in Singapore?

If you pass away without a will – known as intestacy – you do not get to choose who inherits. Instead, your estate is divided using a fixed formula set out in the Intestate Succession Act 1967:

• Spouse, no children, no surviving parents – your spouse receives everything.
• Spouse and children – your spouse receives half, and your children share the other half.
• Spouse and parents, but no children – your spouse and parents each receive half.
• Children, no spouse – your children inherit in equal shares.
• No spouse or children – your estate passes to your parents, then siblings, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles, in that order.

A court-appointed administrator, or the Public Trustee, manages the process. The formula leaves no room for the people the law does not recognise as next of kin – unmarried partners, stepchildren, and close friends are all excluded, however much they meant to you. With a will, you decide who receives what, and who looks after it. Read our full guide on what happens if you pass away without a will, or see how the formula would land on your own family with The Split, our free 60-second intestacy calculator.

Choosing guardians

When both parents pass away without guardianship arrangements in place, government intervention may be required to determine who cares for the children.

A guardian's key responsibilities include looking after the child's welfare and upbringing.

You can also name a temporary guardian to bridge any delays while permanent guardians obtain court approval. This ensures your children are immediately cared for by someone you trust. Read our full guide to appointing a legal guardian in Singapore.

Choosing an executor

An executor manages the entire estate administration process after you pass away. Their duties include:

• Identifying all accounts, investments, and assets
• Settling outstanding debts and taxes
• Notifying beneficiaries and guardians
• Distributing assets according to the will's specifications

When selecting an executor, prioritise trustworthiness, capability, and their willingness to navigate probate procedures. Read our full guide on choosing an executor.

What makes a will legally valid?

For a will to be legally valid in Singapore, the following requirements must be met:

• Age – The testator must be 21 years or older
• Mental competency – You must be of sound mind with clear wishes
• Documentation – Your will must be a printed, signed hard copy. Print it and sign it by hand in ink, black or blue – electronic or digital signatures, such as DocuSign, are not valid for a will.
• Witnesses – Two independent witnesses who are 21 or older, are not beneficiaries of the will, and are not married to a beneficiary. You and both witnesses must all be in the same room at the same time when you sign – signing over a video call, or separately, does not count.

There is no need to notarise or register your will. Once properly signed and witnessed, it is fully legally binding.

When you sign, sign or initial every page as well. Then keep the signed original somewhere safe and tell your executor where to find it.

Signing and witnessing, step by step

A will that says exactly what you want still does nothing until it is signed correctly. This is the part people get wrong, and it applies to every route – a free template, a will drawn up by a lawyer, or one created here.

Who can be a witness

You already have the rule from the section above: 21 or older, of sound mind, not a beneficiary, and not married to a beneficiary. In plain English, "independent" means the witness gets nothing from your will, and neither does their husband or wife.

In practice, friends, colleagues, and most relatives can all witness your will – as long as they do not receive anything under it and are not married to anyone who does. If you are struggling to find two people, colleagues and neighbours are the usual answer, precisely because they are the people least likely to appear in your will.

What a witness is confirming

A witness is confirming one thing: that they watched you sign your will. They are not confirming that your wishes are sensible or that the contents are correct, and they take on no duty afterwards. They do not need to read your will, and you do not have to tell them what is in it. Knowing that usually makes it a much easier thing to ask.

Signing

1. Print your completed will.
2. Bind the pages so they cannot easily be separated.
3. Sign every page in front of both witnesses, by hand in ink, with all three of you in the same room at the same time. Not over a video call, and not one after another.
4. Have both witnesses sign and date the witness section while you watch, also by hand in ink.

Do not use an electronic signature – DocuSign and anything like it are not valid for a will in Singapore. There is nothing else to do afterwards: no notary, no registration, no filing. Your will is legally valid from that moment.

After you've signed

Where to keep it

Keep the signed original somewhere safe, dry, and easy to reach – a locked drawer or a home safe is fine. What matters more than the hiding place is that the right person can get to it.

Tell your executor where your will is. A will nobody can find is, in practice, no will at all.

The copy in your MakeGoodwill account is a copy, kept for your reference and for updating later. The signed, witnessed original on paper is the legal document.

When to update your will

Here is the one most people do not know: getting married automatically revokes your will. Under Section 13 of the Wills Act 1838, marriage cancels any will you signed beforehand, so you will need to create a new one afterwards. There is one exception – a will made in contemplation of marriage to a specific person stays valid after that marriage, and this has to be set out clearly in the will itself.

Divorce works the other way, and catches people just as often. A divorce does not revoke your will in Singapore, and it does not cancel gifts to a former spouse or their appointment as your executor. Those stay in effect until you update your will yourself.

Other reasons to update your will:

• A new child, or a new pet you would like to name a caretaker for
• A beneficiary, executor, or guardian passes away, or is no longer the right choice
• You add, change, or remove a gift to a named person
• You want to change how the rest of your estate is divided
• A significant change in what you own

If your circumstances are stable, reviewing your will every two or three years is a healthy habit.

Each updated will is a new legal document, so it needs a fresh print and sign with two independent witnesses, and the older signed version should be destroyed. The new will supersedes the old one automatically.

Your first year includes unlimited updates. After that, you can continue updating any time with the annual subscription at SGD 35 per year. It is optional – if you do not subscribe, the will you have already signed stays valid and you keep lifetime access to your documents.

How is the will carried out when someone passes away?

Upon notification of death, the following process takes place:

1. Financial institutions freeze all assets under the deceased's name
2. The executor locates and reviews the will
3. The executor collates all accounts and contacts next of kin
4. A grant of probate in Singapore is obtained from the court (independently or with legal assistance)
5. Institutions unfreeze accounts into estate accounts
6. Beneficiaries receive their distributions as specified in the will

Frequently asked questions