What happens to your CPF and assets when you die in Singapore
Your CPF, HDB flat, insurance and investments each follow different rules on death. Here is how nomination, the Public Trustee and intestacy actually work, in plain language. General information, not legal or financial advice.
This is general information for Singapore residents, not legal or financial advice. Rules change and individual circumstances differ, so confirm the details with the CPF Board, the Public Trustee's Office or a qualified professional before you act.
When someone dies in Singapore, their money and property do not all pass through a single channel. Your CPF savings travel one way, your HDB flat another, and your bank accounts, insurance and investments each follow their own rules. The single most important thing to understand is that your CPF is not part of your will or your estate. That one fact catches many families by surprise.
Your CPF does not pass through your will
Under the Central Provident Fund Act, your CPF savings (your Ordinary, Special, MediSave and Retirement Account balances) are paid out by CPF nomination, separately from your estate. A will does not control your CPF, and a CPF nomination does not control the rest of your estate. They are two different instruments.
If you have made a valid CPF nomination, the CPF Board pays your savings directly to the people you named. According to the CPF Board, nominees are usually contacted within about 10 working days after the Board is notified of a member's passing, and there are no fees when the Board pays nominated savings to adult nominees.
There are different ways to nominate. A cash nomination tells the Board to pay your CPF savings in cash to your nominees. The Enhanced Nomination Scheme (ENS) lets you nominate someone to receive your savings *inside* their own CPF account rather than as cash, which can keep the money within the CPF system for a beneficiary. You can also nominate how the savings are split between people. You can make or update a CPF nomination through the CPF Board, and it is free.
What if you made no CPF nomination
If there is no valid nomination, your CPF savings are transferred to the Public Trustee's Office, which sits under the Ministry of Law. The Public Trustee then distributes the money under the Intestate Succession Act 1967 for non-Muslims, or under Muslim inheritance law for Muslims, regardless of what your will says.
The Public Trustee charges a statutory fee for this work. Under the Public Trustee (Fees) Rules, the fee is tiered: the Ministry of Law has described a scale of roughly 2.4% on the first $1,000, 1.5% on the next $9,000, 0.75% on the next $240,000, 0.45% on the next $250,000 and 0.3% beyond that, so larger sums bear a larger share of the administration cost. Making a nomination avoids this fee entirely, because the Board pays nominees directly.
The scale of un-nominated money is real. *The Straits Times* reported in October 2019 that more than $200 million sat unclaimed with the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office, the bulk of it CPF money left by people who died without nominating anyone. The CPF Board's own figures show that while about 4 in 5 members who died in 2023 had made a nomination, roughly 2 in 5 of those who died before age 65 had no nomination in place, which is exactly the group whose savings are most likely to end up with the Public Trustee.
CPF LIFE, MediSave and the CPF Investment Scheme
CPF LIFE payouts stop on death. The CPF Board states that if you pass away before your CPF LIFE premium is used up, any remaining premium balance is paid to your beneficiaries as part of your bequest, together with your remaining CPF savings. The unpaid *interest* on that premium is pooled to support payouts for other living members and does not form part of the bequest.
MediSave balances are treated as CPF savings and follow your nomination, or go to the Public Trustee if there is none. Holdings under the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) are dealt with through the CPF process; the executor or next of kin works with the agent bank and the Board to realise or transfer them.
Your HDB flat: ownership type decides everything
Whether your share of an HDB flat passes automatically or through your estate depends on how it is held.
Joint tenancy carries the right of survivorship. On the death of one joint owner, that person's interest passes automatically to the surviving owner or owners, no matter what the will says. The survivor lodges a Notice of Death with the Singapore Land Authority to update the records.
Tenancy-in-common gives each owner a defined share. That share does *not* pass automatically. It goes into the deceased's estate and is distributed by the will, or by the Intestate Succession Act if there is no will.
Inheriting or retaining an HDB flat is not automatic even after the legal share passes. HDB applies eligibility rules, and the beneficiary must usually be able to satisfy them, including citizenship requirements and HDB's various policies on who may own a flat. The Ethnic Integration Policy and Singapore Permanent Resident quota can also affect transfers. If an inheritor cannot meet the eligibility conditions, they may have to sell the flat or the inherited share. HDB and a conveyancing lawyer can confirm what applies in a specific case.
Bank accounts, insurance, SRS, CDP and shares
Bank accounts. A sole-name account is frozen on death and forms part of the estate. The bank releases it to the legal personal representative once a Grant of Probate (where there is a will) or Letters of Administration (where there is none) is produced. A joint account usually passes to the surviving account holder by survivorship, though banks have their own verification steps.
Insurance. Life insurance can be paid quickly outside probate if you have made a valid policy nomination. A revocable or trust nomination directs the payout to your named beneficiaries. Without a nomination, the proceeds fall into your estate.
SRS (Supplementary Retirement Scheme). SRS funds form part of your estate and are distributed under your will or the Intestate Succession Act. The SRS operator releases the funds to the personal representative on the proper grant.
CDP and shares. Shares held in your Central Depository (CDP) account pass through your estate. The personal representative updates the account and provides CDP with documents such as the grant and a schedule of assets to transfer or sell the holdings.
Worth noting: Singapore abolished estate duty (inheritance tax) for deaths on or after 15 February 2008, so there is generally no death tax on these assets, though that is separate from how they are distributed.
Two systems: Muslim and non-Muslim estates
Singapore runs a dual inheritance system. For non-Muslims, intestate (no-will) estates follow the Intestate Succession Act 1967. In broad terms a surviving spouse and children share the estate; a spouse with no children shares with the deceased's parents; and so on down a defined order of relatives.
For Muslims, the estate is governed by faraid under the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA), administered with the Syariah Court. The family applies for an Inheritance Certificate that sets out each heir's fixed share. Importantly, a valid CPF nomination is generally still honoured for Muslims: under a fatwa it is treated as a *hibah* (gift), so nominated CPF money is paid to the named persons and is not divided under faraid. This is a complex area, and Muslim families should seek guidance specific to their situation.
Why a CPF nomination matters so much
The pattern across all of this is simple. Nomination is fast, free and direct. The estate route is slower, costs fees and may not reflect your wishes. A CPF nomination, an insurance nomination and a clear, valid will together cover most people's main assets. Reviewing them after big life events keeps them current, because some events can revoke earlier arrangements.
Preserving the person, not just the assets
A will moves your money. It cannot pass on *you*, the voice your family knows, the stories only you can tell, the way you would have answered their questions. That is a different kind of legacy, and it is the gap Afterlife AI™ is built to close.
Afterlife AI™ is a consent-based digital legacy. While you are alive, you build a Persona from your own memories and conversations, and you decide what is preserved and who may access it. Consent is captured by you and settled at Executor Lock™, the point at which your choices are fixed so they cannot be altered later. You can start free: a one-time build budget of 60 memories and 100 conversations, with no card required and no expiry on your free build. Paid plans (Legacy at $14.99/month and Eternal at $29.99/month) unlock the ongoing listening and access experience for families. Your content is hosted in Australia and treated as sensitive personal information.
Voice preservation is part of this: a consent-based recreation of your own voice that you choose to capture while alive, with that consent explicitly extending to playback after death and locked at Executor Lock™. The voice is created free for everyone; the listening experience is part of the paid plans. Nothing plays automatically in a moment of grief; a family member always chooses to tap and listen.
Afterlife AI™ does not handle your CPF, your HDB flat or your money, and nothing here is legal or financial advice. It preserves the part of your legacy a lawyer cannot draft: who you were, in your own words.
Frequently asked questions
See the questions below for quick answers on CPF nomination, the Public Trustee, HDB flats and Muslim inheritance. As above, this is general information, not legal or financial advice.