You will be able to explain why CPF savings are not covered by a will and how to make a nomination.
When Kelvin started work at 25, a colleague told him to make a CPF nomination, and he named his mother for all of it. Seven years later, a week after his wedding, he mentioned it to Mei as something already sorted. It wasn't. Under the CPF rules, his marriage had cancelled that nomination, and if anything had happened to him the week after the wedding, his CPF would have taken the slow route.
That slow route is what this lesson is about, and so is the simple form that avoids it.
Most people assume a will deals with everything they own. It doesn't deal with CPF. CPF savings pass according to your CPF nomination, which is a separate instruction to the CPF Board naming who should receive your savings when you die, and in what shares. A will that says "everything to my wife" has no effect on your CPF.
The nomination covers the savings in your CPF accounts, including any bequest from CPF LIFE described in lesson 7.1, How CPF LIFE pools longevity risk. It doesn't cover a home bought with CPF. Who gets the home depends on how it is held and on your will, as Retirement & Estate: income for life and a plan for what you leave, lesson 7.3, Nominations and joint holdings pass outside the will, explains.
If you die without a valid nomination, your CPF savings go to the Public Trustee's Office. It then distributes them under the law: the Intestate Succession Act for non-Muslims, and Muslim inheritance law for Muslims. The law decides who receives what, regardless of what you would have wanted. Your family has to contact the Public Trustee and provide documents, and the process takes longer than a payout to named nominees.
The law's split may not be what you want. For a married person without a will or nomination, the law gives a share to the spouse and a share to the children, and in some cases to parents. If you wanted your savings to go wholly to your spouse, or to include a parent or sibling the law leaves out, only a nomination makes that happen.
You can make or change a CPF nomination online through the CPF website with your Singpass. You choose who your nominees are and the share each receives, and you can name more than one person. Online nominations need witnesses who confirm through their own Singpass. The CPF website sets out who can act as a witness and the steps. You can also make a nomination in person if you prefer.
The whole process takes about fifteen minutes for most people. There is no fee for making a nomination online, and you can change it as often as your life changes. Muslim members can make a nomination too, and the CPF Board explains how the rules apply to them.
The rule that caught Kelvin out is that marriage revokes a CPF nomination for non-Muslim members. The CPF Board treats marriage as a change big enough that an old nomination may no longer reflect your wishes, so it cancels it. You need to make a new one after you marry.
Divorce doesn't revoke a nomination. If you named a spouse and later divorce, the nomination stays in force until you change it. People who forget this can leave their CPF to a former spouse.
The birth of a child doesn't revoke a nomination either, but it is a good moment to review one. A nomination made before children may leave them out entirely.
So the review points are marriage, divorce and the birth of a child, plus the death of anyone you have named. The Singapore personal finance system, end to end, module 8, Put your will, nominations and LPA in place, puts these alongside your will and insurance nominations.
Kelvin logged in that evening. His dashboard showed no nomination. He made a new one, naming Mei for most of his savings and his mother for the rest, because she has fewer savings of her own and he wanted to be sure she was looked after. He asked two friends to act as witnesses, and both confirmed online the next day. He set a reminder to review it when their first child is born.
Log in to cpf.gov.sg and check your nomination status. If you have none, or yours was made before a marriage, divorce or child, write the date by which you will make or update it.
Check whether you have a CPF nomination and write when you will make or update it.
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