GETTING A LAWYER TO DRAFT YOUR WILL

In order to write a will in Singapore, it is extremely important for the parties involved – lawyer and also the person drawing the Will (also known as the Testator in legal terms) have to strictly adhere to the guidelines being prescribed under the Wills Act.

Indeed, it is highly recommended to appoint a Wills lawyer in order to draft a will as it is quite a tedious and complicated task to be accomplished on own merits. Complications may also arise if the self-drafted Will fail to meet the necessary legal requirements.

Here are indeed certain guidelines that are to be followed while preparing the Will as mentioned by many legal experts in the country.

• The Will has to be drafted in writing.
• The Testator must be over 21 years of age as well must have his/her sign as a footnote of the Will. If he/she is unable to draft it then the person who does it on behalf must have his/her signature on the document as well.
• The Testator must have at least have two witnesses present while drafting the Will whose signatures would also be present in the Will along with that of his/her.
• It has to be made sure the witnesses as mentioned above must and should not be the beneficiary of the Will.

The Will do generally consist of the following (not necessarily in the same order):

• Detailed list of all of the available possessions.
• All sorts of liabilities and debts that would be required to be settled after the death.
• Details of the beneficiaries or the guardians of the Will if the beneficiaries are not of the age.
• The details of the person who would be responsible for executing the Will.
• Also, mention a residuary clause on how to distribute your wealth after the death. This can come handy in case the beneficiary.
• If this Will be an amendment of any prepared previously, then it is extremely important to nullify the previous one in order to make the current Will “valid”.

If the testator is a CPF (Central Provident Fund) recipient, then the return from the CPF must be distributed accordingly and how it is to be done and who would be the recipients have to be stated and the CPF Board must be informed about it who would be in charge to distribute the amount among the nominees accordingly.

After the Will has been drafted, it has to be registered at the Will Registry which incurs a fee. This is indeed important as makes the probate process more simplified. Notify anyone closer to the kin and also places the Will in a highly secure location.

The costs incurred in preparing the Will does depend on the lawyer appointed for the job as well on the complexity of the Will being made. Higher the complexity, higher is the price to draft the Will.

In order to nullify an old Will, it has to be done in writing.