The Cost of Doing Nothing

Doing nothing is not free. It simply moves the bill, and the burden, to your family. (Why "I'll get to it" is the costly option.)

The reason estate planning is so easy to postpone is that the cost of delay falls on other people, later. But the cost is real, and it lands at the worst possible time.

Time. With a nomination, CPF savings can reach your family within about ten working days. With no nomination, the Public Trustee must trace eligible relatives, and the process can take up to six months. With a will, the named executor applies for a grant of probate. With no will, someone must first apply to be appointed administrator — an extra step before anything can be distributed.

Money. A will and nominations are inexpensive to prepare. Their absence triggers fees instead: a Public Trustee charge on un-nominated CPF, and legal costs to obtain letters of administration that a clean will would have reduced.

Friction. This is the largest cost and the hardest to measure. When the law or a court decides, relatives can disagree over who should administer the estate and who should receive what. A clear plan removes the ambiguity that turns grief into dispute.

None of these costs is exotic. They are the ordinary, predictable consequences of leaving the decisions unmade. The remedy is equally ordinary — a few documents, completed once and reviewed occasionally.

Illustrative example: the delay from doing nothing

The chart shows the comparison in two parts. For CPF savings, a nomination releases the money in about two weeks, while no nomination routes it through the Public Trustee for up to six months. For the rest of the estate, a will lets the executor move within a couple of months, while no will adds a court step — being appointed administrator — first. In both halves, the missing document is what stretches weeks into months.