Estate Planning for Property Owners in Singapore (2026)

Singapore has no estate duty, but your property and your mortgage do not disappear when you die. Four things decide whether your family inherits a home or a problem: who pays the loan, how the title is held, what a will cannot reach (such as CPF), and who controls the property if heirs are young or you lose capacity. A will, a CPF nomination, the right title and a Lasting Power of Attorney cover most of it.

At a glance

• Estate duty was removed for deaths on or after 15 February 2008. Inheriting property under a will or intestacy does not attract ABSD, but gifting it does.
• The loan stays with the property. The CPF Home Protection Scheme covers death, terminal illness and total permanent disability until age 65 or the end of the loan.
• How you hold title (sole name, joint tenancy or tenancy in common) decides who gets your share. A will cannot override a joint tenancy.
• CPF savings are not part of your estate and a will cannot control them. You need a separate CPF nomination.

Tax and stamp duty on inheritance

IRAS says estate duty has been removed for deaths on or after 15 Feb 2008, so there is no death tax on your home. Stamp duty can still apply in some cases.

IRAS lists gifts of property as dutiable, and BSD is based on the market value when no price is paid. In its ABSD FAQ, IRAS says ABSD is not payable on property inherited under a will, intestacy law or Muslim inheritance law. But an inherited property, or even a share of one, still counts in your property count for ABSD on your next purchase.

Example: a citizen child with no property inherits a share in a condo. If the child later buys a private home, the inherited share counts as a first property, so the new purchase is a second one and ABSD is 20%. Our guide to leaving property to children works through this.

Issue 1: the loan does not die with you

Your mortgage, car loan and unpaid income tax stay. Heirs who want to keep the home must keep paying, refinance in their own names (lenders then test their income under the TDSR rules), or sell.

• CPF users: if you use CPF to pay monthly instalments, you must join the Home Protection Scheme. It pays the sum assured towards the loan on death, terminal illness or total permanent disability. Cover ends at 65 or when the loan is repaid, whichever is first. You must be in good health to join.
• Cash payers and bank loans: cover is optional. Our guide to mortgage loan insurance compares the choices.

Ask yourself: if my income stopped tomorrow, could my family keep or sell the home without a fire sale?

Issue 2: how you own the property

The CPF Board notes that who gets a property depends on whether you own it alone, as joint tenants or as tenants in common.

How you hold it	What happens when you die
Sole name	Your will decides; with no will, intestacy rules apply
Joint tenancy	The surviving owner takes the whole property, whatever your will says
Tenancy in common	Your share passes under your will, or under intestacy

A will must follow the Wills Act: you must be 21 or older, and the will must be in writing and signed by you in front of two witnesses who are present at the same time. A gift to a witness, or to a witness’s spouse, fails, so do not ask a beneficiary to witness it.

Without a will, the Intestate Succession Act decides who inherits if you are not Muslim. The Public Trustee’s Office applies it to small estates (up to S$50,000); larger estates need a court grant. If you leave a spouse and children, the spouse gets half and the children share the other half equally. Muslim estates follow Muslim inheritance law.

Example (hypothetical): you own a S$1.2m condo in your sole name and die without a will, leaving a spouse and two children. Your spouse gets S$600,000 of value and each child S$300,000. They now co-own the home, and the children may not agree with your spouse about selling. A will could instead leave the home to your spouse, with the children inheriting later.

If your main asset is an HDB flat, check HDB’s rules on who may keep a flat. Get legal advice before you change how you hold title, since a change can also trigger stamp duty under the rules above.

Issue 3: CPF and anything a will cannot reach

CPF savings do not form part of your estate and your will cannot control them. With a nomination, your savings are paid in cash to your nominees. Without one, they go to the Public Trustee, who distributes them under the intestacy laws. That can take up to six months and costs a fee. Properties bought with CPF are outside the nomination, so the title rules above still apply.

Review your nomination after a marriage, divorce or birth.

Issue 4: young or vulnerable heirs, and your own incapacity

If a child inherits at 18, the whole home passes to them. A will can set up a trust that holds the property until an age you choose, or for a family member with special needs. A lawyer can draft this.

Name backup beneficiaries, in case your whole family is affected by the same event.

Estate planning also covers you while you are alive. A Lasting Power of Attorney lets a person you choose act for you if you lose mental capacity. Citizens and residents aged 21 or older can make one through the Office of the Public Guardian.

A short checklist

1. List every property, loan and who is on each title.
2. Check your Home Protection or mortgage insurance cover.
3. Make a will with a lawyer. Update it after life changes.
4. Make or review your CPF nomination.
5. Make a Lasting Power of Attorney.

Bottom line

Without estate duty, planning is about control, not tax: who inherits, who pays the loan and who decides if you cannot. A will, a CPF nomination, the right title and a Lasting Power of Attorney cover most of it. This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

• Wills Act 1838 — Singapore Statutes Online, checked Oct 2026
• Intestate Succession Act 1967, section 7 — Singapore Statutes Online, checked Oct 2026
• Estate duty — IRAS (checked Oct 2026)
• Buyer’s Stamp Duty — IRAS (checked Oct 2026)
• Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty, FAQs — IRAS, rates from 27 Apr 2023 (checked Oct 2026)
• 3 benefits of the Home Protection Scheme — CPF Board (checked Oct 2026)
• What does your CPF nomination cover — CPF Board (checked Oct 2026)
• What happens to my CPF savings after my death — CPF Board (checked Oct 2026)
• Information for next-of-kin: estate monies — Public Trustee’s Office, Ministry of Law (checked Oct 2026)
• MSR and TDSR rules — MAS (checked Oct 2026)
• Lasting Power of Attorney — Office of the Public Guardian, MSF (checked Oct 2026)