British expats in Singapore: common law, CPF nominations and your UK will

By Jamie Lee · Published 15 August 2026

Singapore's courts will generally recognise a properly made UK will, and for most British expats one is enough. But if you hold CPF savings, your biggest local asset passes outside any will you'll ever write. Here's how the two systems fit together, and the free nomination to sort first.

A properly made UK will works for most British expats in Singapore. The city's legal system grew out of English law, its courts generally recognise a will made under the law of England and Wales, and for most British families here one UK will covers the estate. There's one large exception: if you're a permanent resident with CPF savings, that money passes outside any will, under a separate nomination you make directly with the CPF Board. If you've never made one, that's the gap to close first, and it costs nothing.

Three questions run underneath all of this, and they're worth keeping apart: which country's law decides who inherits, what tax is due, and what your family has to do after you die. A will settles the first and smooths the third. It does almost nothing to the second. Most of the confusion in expat estate planning comes from mixing the three together.

The asset no will can reach: your CPF

First, the scoping. Only Singapore citizens and permanent residents hold CPF; employers stopped contributing for foreign employees in 2003. If you've always been here on an Employment Pass, you have no CPF and can skip to the next section.

If you are a PR, or held PR in the past, your CPF balance may be one of your largest Singapore assets, and the CPF Board is blunt about how it's treated: under the CPF Act, CPF monies don't form part of your estate and aren't covered by a will. Not a UK will, not a Singapore will. The only way to direct them is a CPF nomination, made with the Board itself. It's free, done online with Singpass, and needs two witnesses.

Without a nomination, your CPF goes to the Public Trustee's Office, which distributes it under Singapore's intestacy rules. The PTO charges a tiered fee for doing so, from 2.4% on the first S$1,000 down to 0.3% above S$500,000, minimum S$15, and the process can take up to six months. Your family waits, and pays, for an outcome you could have set in an evening.

One rule catches people out: marriage automatically revokes an existing CPF nomination. Divorce doesn't. If you married after making your nomination, you no longer have one.

How Singapore treats a foreigner's estate

Singapore is a common law jurisdiction with English roots, and its rules on cross-border estates follow the same logic an English lawyer would use. Succession to your movable assets, such as bank accounts and investments, is governed by the law of the country where you're domiciled when you die. For a British expat who still calls the UK home in the long run, that's the law of England and Wales, which means your English will speaks for your Singapore bank account. Immovable property is different: a Singapore condo passes under Singapore law, wherever you're domiciled.

The practical machinery cooperates too. When someone dies with an English will and assets in Singapore, a grant of probate issued in England and Wales can be resealed in Singapore under section 47 of the Probate and Administration Act 1934. Resealing is a court application, heard in the High Court (Family Division) within the Family Justice Courts, and in practice your executor would instruct a Singapore lawyer to file it. It adds time and cost. Routine work for a Singapore probate lawyer.

A caveat if Singapore is now home for good: domicile is about where you intend to remain permanently. If Singapore has become that place for you, with no plan to return to Britain, the analysis above shifts, and it's worth taking proper advice before assuming English law governs your movables.

UK will, Singapore will, or both?

For most British expats here, the answer is a UK will plus a CPF nomination. That combination covers your UK property and ISAs, your Singapore bank accounts and investments, and your CPF, which no will could touch anyway. Your pensions pass separately, outside the will; they're step 2 of the checklist at the end.

A separate Singapore will earns its keep when you own Singapore immovable property, a condo bought here, or substantial local assets, and you want your family to get a local grant quickly instead of waiting on resealing. If that's you, have it drafted by a Singapore-qualified lawyer, and make sure the two wills are written to work together. The classic self-inflicted wound is signing a second will with a general revocation clause that quietly cancels the first. Each will should revoke only previous wills dealing with that country's assets.

Keep the will current, too. In England, marriage revokes a will unless it was made in contemplation of that marriage, and on divorce an ex-spouse is treated as having died before you, so gifts to them fall away. Singapore revokes on marriage as well, but a divorce there changes nothing: an ex-spouse named in a will still inherits until you write a new one. Whichever law applies to you, the rule of thumb is the same. Marriage, divorce or a new child means the will gets reviewed.

The tax that follows you home

Singapore makes this half of the story short: estate duty was abolished for deaths on or after 15 February 2008. There's no inheritance tax here.

The British half changed in April 2025. UK inheritance tax no longer runs on domicile. It now follows a long-term residence test: your worldwide estate is in scope if you were UK tax-resident in at least 10 of the 20 tax years before death, and after you leave, that worldwide exposure continues through a tail of between three and ten years, depending on how long you'd lived in the UK beforehand. Count in complete tax years, and count your own tail. Leave in your early thirties after 13 years of UK residence and your tail is three years, so three complete tax years abroad ends your worldwide exposure. Leave after a lifetime in Britain and the tail is ten, so nine years in Singapore still leaves you inside it. Whatever your history, ten complete non-resident tax years ends the worldwide exposure, provided you don't move back.

Two things stay true regardless. UK situs assets, your flat in Manchester, most UK shares and accounts, remain within IHT scope forever, however long you've been away. And from 6 April 2027, under legislation already passed by Parliament, unused pension funds will be counted in your estate for IHT as well, with your personal representatives responsible for reporting and paying. If a UK SIPP is a big part of your wealth, the shape of your estate is about to change even though you've done nothing.

Your will doesn't alter any of these tax outcomes. What it decides is who inherits, who administers, and how cleanly. Tax planning is a separate conversation with a separate professional.

If you do nothing

Die intestate as an England-domiciled expat and two systems start guessing at your wishes. Your movable estate, wherever it sits, falls under English intestacy rules: your spouse takes the personal possessions, the first £322,000 and half of whatever remains, and your children share the other half. Any Singapore immovable property falls under Singapore's Intestate Succession Act instead, which gives your spouse half and your children the other half between them. Two countries, two formulas, neither of them yours. For Muslim families in Singapore the Act doesn't apply at all; distribution follows faraid under Muslim law. And if you're Muslim and Singapore has become your permanent home, Muslim law limits what any will can do with your estate, so take advice from a lawyer versed in Singapore Muslim law.

And intestacy answers none of the questions that matter most to parents. A will is where you name guardians for your children, which is worth doing even though a court would have the final say if you both died while living here. It's also where you choose the executor your family will be dealing with, in two countries at once.

One evening, sorted

The full job is smaller than the articles you've been reading make it sound, and the first two steps are free.

If you're a PR, log into the CPF portal with Singpass and make or check your nomination. If you married since making it, it's gone; make a new one.
Check the death-benefit nominations on your UK pensions. SIPPs pass by the scheme's process, outside your will, so the form your provider holds matters.
Make the will. An Expat Legacy will is drafted under the law of England and Wales, built around expat circumstances, and reviewed by a human before your final documents are released. A single will is £149; mirror wills for a couple are £249. Two signing rules to get right: your witnesses must be physically in the room, since England's pandemic-era video witnessing ended on 31 January 2024, and no beneficiary or beneficiary's spouse should witness, or their gift is void. Your signing instructions cover both. If your situation needs a Singapore lawyer instead, because of local property, a business, or anything complicated, the honest thing is to say so, and we do.

Then put a note in your diary: if you buy property in Singapore, marry, divorce, remarry or have another child, the plan gets reviewed. That's the whole system: two free fixes and one will.

Sources

This article is general information for British expats, current as at August 2026. It isn't legal or tax advice, and it doesn't account for your personal circumstances. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and can change.

Common questions

Does a UK will cover Singapore bank accounts?

Yes, for most British expats who still consider the UK their long term home, an English will covers movable assets like Singapore bank accounts. This is because the law of the country where you are domiciled generally governs who inherits your personal property. However, if you have made Singapore your permanent home with no plans to return to Britain, you should seek advice as this legal analysis may change.

How do I leave my CPF to my family?

You must make a specific CPF nomination directly with the CPF Board, which is a free process that can be done online using Singpass. CPF savings are not covered by any will, whether made in the UK or Singapore, because they do not form part of your legal estate. If you do not make a nomination, your funds will be distributed by the Public Trustee's Office according to Singapore's intestacy rules for a fee.

Will my UK will be valid in Singapore?

Singapore is a common law jurisdiction that generally recognises wills made under the law of England and Wales. To deal with Singaporean assets, your executor would typically have a grant of probate issued in England and Wales resealed by the Singapore High Court. If you own a house or condo in Singapore, it is often better to have a separate Singapore will drafted by a local lawyer to handle that specific property.

Read the Singapore country guide