Why Your CPF Does Not Pass Under Your Will

Your will can say "everything to my family" and still not move a cent of your CPF. (The gap most people miss.)

For many Singaporeans, CPF is among their largest assets — yet it sits entirely outside the will. A will, however carefully drafted, does not direct your CPF savings. They pass only by a CPF nomination made with the CPF Board. This single fact, widely misunderstood, is one of the most common planning gaps.

A CPF nomination lets you name who receives your CPF savings when you die, and in what shares. It covers the balances in your Ordinary, Special, MediSave and Retirement Accounts, plus any unused CPF LIFE premiums. It does not cover assets outside CPF — your property, cash savings or investments — which the will handles instead.

Making a nomination is free and quick. You can do it online via the CPF website with Singpass, or in person; you must be at least 16, and you need two witnesses who are not your nominees. You can change it at any time, and you should review it after major life events, because — like a will — a marriage can affect an earlier nomination.

The payoff is speed and certainty. With a nomination in place, the CPF Board can typically reach your nominees within about ten working days. Without one, the savings go to the Public Trustee for distribution, which is slower and incurs a fee (covered in the next post).

If you do one thing after reading this, check whether you have a current CPF nomination. Many people assume they do, or that their will covers it. Neither assumption is safe.

Illustrative example: what a CPF nomination covers — and what it does not

The chart sorts your assets into two columns: those a CPF nomination directs (your CPF account balances and unused CPF LIFE premiums) and those it does not (property, cash, investments — handled by the will). The split is the whole point: CPF needs its own instruction.