A death does not cause every asset connected with the deceased to pass under a will. The first questions are what forms part of the estate, which law governs its distribution, and who has authority to deal with it.

What is the deceased’s estate?

The estate is the property, rights and liabilities that survive the deceased and are capable of administration by a personal representative. It commonly includes land held in the deceased’s sole name, the deceased’s share in property held as a tenant in common, money in sole-name bank accounts, shares, personal belongings, debts owed to the deceased and contractual causes of action that survive death.

Not the whole of the estate is to be distributed to the beneficiaries. Funeral, testamentary and administration expenses, enforceable debts must be paid. The net estate is then available for distribution.

Testacy, intestacy and partial intestacy

A person dies testate where there is a valid will. The executor (or executors in the event of multiple) named in the will administers the estate according to the will.

A person dies intestate where there is no valid will disposing of the estate. For a non-Muslim who falls within the Intestate Succession Act 1967 (the “ISA“), the statutory rules (under section 7 of the ISA) determine the persons entitled and their shares. The court may appoint an administrator by granting letters of administration.

Partial intestacy arises where a valid will exists but does not effectively dispose of the whole beneficial interest. This may happen because the will has no effective residuary clause, a gift fails without being absorbed by the residue, or the wording deliberately leaves an asset undisposed of. Section 10 of the ISA applies the intestacy rules to the undisposed interest.

Therefore there is a possibility that the same estate may be distributed partly under the will and partly under the intestacy rules.

Muslim and non-Muslim estates

The ISA does not apply to the estate of a Muslim. Muslim succession is principally governed by the Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966 and Muslim law. A Certificate of Inheritance may identify the beneficiaries and their shares under Muslim law.

The distinction is not confined to intestacy. As the Court of Appeal explained in Shafeeg bin Salim Talib and another v Fatimah bte Abud bin Talib and others [2010] 2 SLR 1123 at [20], legislation preserves Muslim law in specified fields including succession and the distribution of Muslim estates. The applicable regime must therefore be identified before any distribution is attempted.

Who may deal with the estate?

The person who administers the estate is the personal representative. An executor derives title from the will upon death, although a grant of probate is ordinarily required as conclusive proof of that title when dealing with institutions and the court. An administrator, by contrast, derives authority from the grant of letters of administration.

Section 37 of the Probate and Administration Act 1934 protects an unrepresented estate by vesting it in the Public Trustee between death and the grant of administration in the circumstances stated in the provision. This does not make the Public Trustee the ordinary administrator of every estate. It prevents the property from being left legally ownerless while representation is obtained.

A beneficiary is not the personal representative merely because the beneficiary will eventually receive part of the estate. During administration, the beneficiary generally has a right to due administration rather than a present proprietary interest in each estate asset. Limited exceptions may permit a beneficiary to protect estate property where special circumstances exist.

Assets that may pass outside the estate

Before calculating the estate, each asset must be classified. Common assets that may pass outside it include:

a. property held under a joint tenancy, which ordinarily passes to the surviving joint tenant by survivorship;

b. CPF money subject to a valid nomination, which passes under the Central Provident Fund Act 1953 rather than under the will;

c. insurance proceeds payable under an effective nomination or statutory trust;

d. property held by the deceased solely as trustee for another person; and

e. assets already transferred by a completed lifetime gift.

 

Legal survivorship does not always settle beneficial ownership. In Khoo Phaik Ean Patricia v Khoo Phaik Eng Katherine [2025] SGCA 20 at [140] to [146], the Court of Appeal stressed that bank documents authorising a survivor to operate an account may address legal title without conclusively determining who owns the money beneficially. The deceased’s intention and any trust analysis may still determine whether the survivor must account to the estate.

In broad terms, the personal representative must identify and preserve the assets, determine the liabilities, obtain representation where required, collect the estate, pay proper expenses and debts, resolve claims, and distribute the residue to those entitled. Distribution should not precede the proper ascertainment of debts and beneficiaries.

 

Yours sincerely,

Daryl