CPF Nominations vs Wills vs Joint Tenancy: How Do They Work Together in Estate Planning in Singapore?
Summary
CPF savings sit outside your Will: Your Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings follow your CPF nomination, and marriage automatically cancels any nomination you made before the wedding.
A home held in joint tenancy passes by survivorship: When a co-owner of a Housing & Development Board (HDB) flat held in joint tenancy dies, the survivor inherits the whole flat automatically. What the Will says about it makes no difference.
Unclaimed money ends up with the Public Trustee's Office: As at 31 December 2024, the Public Trustee’s Office held at least S$278 million in unclaimed monies, including S$184 million in un-nominated CPF savings.
In Singapore, it's easy to assume that your Will covers your entire estate: your flat, savings, Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings, and all. Unfounded it may be, yet this assumption catches Singaporeans out every year.
A Will is one of the key documents that decide where your assets go when you pass. Some of what you own, most notably your CPF savings and a home held in joint tenancy, normally sits outside your Will's reach.*
Separate rules govern these assets, each with its own paperwork. If the paperwork is wrong, your Will's instructions on them do not apply, however clearly you wrote them.
In this article, we compare CPF nominations vs Wills vs joint tenancy, and help you understand why you need to plan all three together to build a holistic estate plan.
*Note: Some assets bought using CPF monies, such as property and CPF investments, may still form part of your main estate. A link to CPF does not automatically place an asset outside your Will.
Will: Governing Most of Your Personal Assets
In Singapore, a Will covers the distribution of your personal estate, which generally includes the following components:
Property held in your sole name, or your defined share of a property held as tenants-in-common
Savings in sole bank accounts
Investments
Digital assets
Valuables and possessions
Your Will is also where you name an executor to govern your assets, and appoint a guardian for your minor children. Although CPF savings technically fall under your personal assets, it must be noted that your Will does not have any power over how they are managed.
CPF Savings: Passing by Nomination
Instead, a CPF nomination names who receives your CPF monies and in what proportion. As CPF savings do not form part of your estate in the same way as your bank savings, they are subject to CPF nomination rules stipulated by the CPF Board.
With a valid nomination, your CPF savings go directly to your nominees, generally without having to wait for probate. Without a CPF nomination, or if your nomination has lapsed, your savings go to the Public Trustee's Office. It distributes your CPF monies under the Intestate Succession Act (for non-Muslims) after deducting an administrative fee, which is a much slower and less certain route than a direct nomination.
One rule catches families out more than any other: marriage automatically annuls any CPF nomination you made before the wedding. Let’s say you nominated your parents while you were single, then got married without updating your CPF nomination. Until you file a fresh nomination, your spouse may not receive what you now intend, or anything at all.
The figures show how often nominations go missing. As at 31 December 2024, the Public Trustee's Office held S$278 million in unclaimed monies, of which roughly S$184 million was un-nominated CPF savings. Around S$67 million more was added over the course of 2024 alone. Behind every dollar is a family that did not know where the money went, or a CPF member who did not file or refile their nomination.
Joint Tenancy: How Does Survivorship Override Your Will?
Apart from your CPF savings, joint tenancy also has special rules that bypass your Will’s instructions. Under a joint tenancy, the law passes your property to the surviving owner automatically.
Joint tenancy is very common in Singapore, where many couples own their HDB flat or private property as joint tenants, rather than tenants-in-common. This means that they share ownership of their home, with no separate shares that each owner can leave to whomever they choose.
By law, the property carries a right of survivorship. When one owner dies, their share passes automatically and entirely to the surviving owner. Regardless of what you write in your Will, you cannot revoke the right of survivorship.
If survivorship conflicts with your estate planning intentions, it may be possible to change your manner of holding to tenancy-in-common, enabling each owner to leave their share by Will as intended.
For a married couple, survivorship is often what both owners want, and it usually works as intended. Survivorship often causes difficulty in blended families, and wherever one owner wants their share to go to someone else. A Will clause leaving "my share of the flat" to someone else does not affect a property held in joint tenancy.
Do check which type of ownership applies to your property. The difference is invisible in daily life, and it becomes decisive the moment one owner passes away.
CPF Nominations vs Wills vs Joint Tenancy: How Does the "Holy Trinity" Compare Among Each Other?
Now that we’ve covered what each of the three legal estate planning instruments covers, let’s summarise their key differences below:
Instrument | What it governs | What decides who receives it |
Will |
| Your written instructions, carried out by your executor |
CPF nomination | Your CPF savings | Your CPF nomination filed with the CPF Board; without one, the Public Trustee's Office distributes it under the Intestate Succession Act (for non-Muslims) |
Joint tenancy (property) | A home or asset held in joint tenancy | Right of survivorship, automatic and outside any Will |
No instrument can do each other’s job. A carefully drafted Will cannot redirect CPF savings away from an outdated nomination, and it also cannot pull a flat held in joint tenancy away from a surviving co-owner. Each one needs its own attention, on its own terms.
CPF nominations and joint tenancy are not the only assets that sit outside your Will. Joint bank accounts and insurance nominations are also considered non-probate assets.
Together, these four are the most common non-probate assets in Singapore, and each one needs to be checked alongside your Will.
How Do a Will, CPF Nomination, and Joint Tenancy Fit Together in an Estate Plan in Singapore?
Aligning your Will, CPF nomination and property ownership ensures your instructions and your actual asset structure point the same way. Two questions remain once you have done so.
Who should act for you if you lose mental capacity before you die?
And how do you protect a beneficiary who should not simply be handed a lump sum, whether they are a minor, vulnerable or better served by a staged inheritance?
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) answers the first question. Where appropriate, a testamentary trust answers the second. Both belong in the same plan as the holy trinity, since each answers something the others cannot.
In essence, a complete estate plan is one where every piece has been checked against the others.
Coordinate a Complete Estate Plan with Mezzanine Legacy today
With so many variables to account for, it’s all too easy to get confused when putting them all together to build your estate plan. You may not be sure whether your CPF nomination still matches your circumstances, or whether your property is held as joint tenants or as tenants-in-common.
Our team of qualified and experienced estate planners at Mezzanine Legacy will review your Will, your CPF nomination, and property ownership together as one picture. Where the three pull in different directions, we help you close the gaps before they become your family's problem to untangle.
To start building your estate plan today, book a free consultation with us now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my Will cover my CPF savings?
No, your Will does not cover your Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings. They pass according to your CPF nomination, which you file separately with the CPF Board. If you have no valid nomination, the Public Trustee's Office distributes your CPF savings under the Intestate Succession Act, after deducting an administrative fee.
Does marriage affect my CPF nomination?
Yes, marriage automatically cancels any CPF nomination you made before the wedding. If you want your spouse, or anyone else, to receive your CPF savings, you need to file a fresh nomination after you marry.
Can I leave my share of a jointly-owned flat to someone in my Will?
You cannot leave your share of a flat you hold as joint tenants to someone in your Will. The flat passes automatically to the surviving co-owner by right of survivorship, whatever your Will says. A share can only be left by Will when the property is held as tenants-in-common. Where there is no Will, the share in question passes under the applicable intestacy rules.
How much unclaimed money is currently sitting with the Public Trustee's Office?
As at 31 December 2024, the Public Trustee's Office was holding S$278 million in unclaimed monies. Roughly S$184 million of it was un-nominated CPF savings, which ended up there because the CPF member had no valid nomination.
How do I check whether my property is held as joint tenants or as tenants-in-common?
Your title documents state whether your property is held as joint tenants or as tenants-in-common. You can also check this through the SLA's MyProperty portal. If you are unsure, check them directly, because the two forms of ownership behave very differently when an owner dies.