WILLS ONLINE

This site is dedicated to issues relating to Wills & Trust in Singapore. It includes an online service for the drafting of Wills.

Our Will drafters are legally qualified persons ie solicitors. Instructions may be given online or in person. You may choose to attend at our office or request for our solicitors to attend at the convenience and privacy of your home or office for execution. No password is required for this site, just click Online Form You may also use our associated secured site at www.familylaw.com.sg

Why does one need to make a Will? The necessity depends on one's needs. If you do not have any assets and dependants, you do not even need to make a Will. However, if you have assets and do not make a Will, the assets will be divided in accordance with the laws of intestacy. If you are happy with the division under the laws of intestacy, and do not wish to specifically appoint anyone as Executor and/or provide for special distribution between your loved ones or to appoint a guardian for your children, you can get by without making a Will.

There are of course various advantages in making a Will. You can appoint an executor or executors of your choice. The beneficiaries need not be left with the task of deciding whom ought to be appointed as the Administrator of your estate. You can also choose to give specific gifts to loved ones or to select an appropriate person to act as the guardian of your minor loved ones.

You may also create a trust for your children. In some instances, the making of a Will avoids unjust distribution, such as in the event a married couple meets with an accident and passes away at the same time, the younger spouse is deemed to have survived the older spouse, and thereby inherits the older spouse's assets, to the exclusion of the older's spouse's parents. There is also less documentation and a simpler Court procedure to obtain a Grant of Probate (when there is a Will) as compared to a Grant of Letters of Administration (when there is no Will). More importantly, the making of a Will shows planning in your life and your love for your dependant loved ones in the eventuality of your death. It is also not morbid to make your Will early, but would clearly be unwise to leave it too late.

Some issues to note before approaching your solicitors to draft your Will.

Choose & Identify your Executor(s). Is there an alternative Executor(s) named;

List out your Assets & Estimate the total;

List out your Liabilities & Estimate the total;

Consider whether you require a Guardian for your minor children;

Consider whether you require a trust for your children during their minority;

Identify the needs of each one of your beneficiaries;

Whether you wish to state your preference for a burial or a cremation;

Whether you wish to specifically exclude any particular person or devise a specific gift to an individual or even to a charitable or specified organisation;

Whether you think that your Will is likely to be challenged in Court after your death (forseeable if the estate is large) and to make adequate preparation with competent advice from solicitors familiar with estate laws.

Whether you require your estate to be managed by professional trustees.

Whether you requre your spouse to do a similar Will which cannot be varied without your consent eg. Mutual Wills.