For many Singapore families the home is the largest thing they own, and the plan for it is often one sentence: split it between the children. EdgeProp ran a piece this week on what that default can cost. It is worth going further. What happens to a home when an owner dies depends less on what the family intended than on three things settled years earlier: how the title is held, whether there is a will, and, for an HDB flat, who is allowed to own it.
How the title is held decides the first step
Under joint tenancy, the owners hold the whole property together. When one dies, the survivor automatically owns all of it, whatever the will says. Most married couples buy this way.
Under tenancy in common, each owner holds a defined share, such as 50/50 or 70/30. When one dies, that share passes under their will, or under intestacy law if there is no will.
So a will that leaves "my half of the flat" to a son does nothing if the flat is held in joint tenancy with a spouse: the spouse already owns it. The manner of holding can be changed, but that is a legal step of its own and, for an HDB flat, needs HDB's approval. Our decoupling guide covers a related move, transferring a share between spouses, and when it makes sense.
Without a will, the law decides the split
For non-Muslims, the Intestate Succession Act sets it:
A spouse and children: half to the spouse, and half shared equally among the children.
A spouse, no children, and living parents: half to the spouse, and half to the parents.
Children and no spouse: everything to the children, equally.
Muslim estates are distributed under Islamic law instead, and need advice from a lawyer who handles them.
An equal split is often exactly what causes the trouble. Three children who each inherit a third of a flat own it together, and it cannot be sold or refinanced unless they agree.
Before anyone can sell or transfer the home, an executor needs a Grant of Probate from the court, or, without a will, an administrator needs Letters of Administration. That usually takes months, and the mortgage still has to be paid in the meantime. HDB owners paying their loan with CPF are usually covered by the Home Protection Scheme, which pays off the loan up to the insured amount. Private owners need their own mortgage insurance.
CPF is not covered by a will
CPF savings go to whoever is named in a CPF nomination. Without a nomination, they are distributed under intestacy law through the Public Trustee, which takes longer. A will can deal with the home. Only a nomination deals with the CPF.
HDB flats have an extra rule
Whoever inherits an HDB flat must be eligible to own it under HDB's rules. If they are not (for example, because they already own a flat or a private home), HDB will usually require the flat to be sold, so the family receives the proceeds rather than the home. If that is where it ends, the HDB sale proceeds calculator shows what a sale would return in cash and CPF.
When one child wants to keep the home
EdgeProp's example is a $2 million condo left equally to two daughters, one of whom still lives in it. She can pay her sister rent for the half she does not own, or buy her out for about $1 million. A buyout is a purchase: it needs a loan her income can support, stamp duty on the share she buys, and additional buyer's stamp duty if she already owns a home. Roov's affordability calculator shows what loan an income supports, and the stamp duty calculator works out the duty. An inherited home also generally counts as a property you own the next time you buy, which can raise the stamp duty on that purchase.
Planned early, the choices are cleaner. The home can be left to the child who lives in it, with savings or insurance going to the others. It can be held as tenants in common in the shares the family actually intends. Or the family can agree in advance that it will be sold and the proceeds divided. Which of these is right matters less than choosing one while everyone can still talk about it.
Death is not the only gap
If an owner loses mental capacity without a Lasting Power of Attorney, the family has to apply to court to be appointed as a deputy before the home can be sold or refinanced. An LPA, made while the owner is well, names who can act.
A short checklist
Find out how your home is held: joint tenancy or tenancy in common.
Write a will that matches it, and make your CPF nominations.
Make a Lasting Power of Attorney.
If it is an HDB flat, check whether the person you intend it for could keep it.
Tell the family what the plan is.
For owners thinking about the home in retirement more broadly, see rightsizing: what a smaller flat releases and three generations under one roof. Stay, sell or restructure weighs keeping a home against moving on.
This is general information, not legal advice. For a will, an LPA or a change in how a home is held, speak to a lawyer.
Not sure how your home is held, or what it would be worth to the family today? Roov's agent can look it up with you and pull current prices for your property. Get in touch.