Estate Settlement Process of CPF

Singapore citizens and permanent residents are members of the Central Provident Fund (CPF), which is managed by the CPF Board. The estate settlement of CPF is governed largely by Section 25 of the CPF Act. This act states that any member of the Fund may, by a memorandum executed in the prescribed manner, nominate a person or persons to receive his/her or their portions of the deceased CPF.

If, at the time of the death, there is no person nominated, the total amount payable shall be paid to the Public Trustee for disposal in accordance with the Intestate Succession Act. If the deceased is a Muslim, the Public Trustee will dispose the Fund according to the Certificate of Inheritance, which the family can obtain from the Syariah Court.

If the nominated person (other than a widow) is below the age of 18 at the time of payment of the amount payable out of the Fund, his portion of the amount payable shall similarly be paid to the Public Trustee for the benefit of the nominated person.

CPF nomination covers your CPF ordinary account, special account, retirement account, Medisave account, discounted SingTel shares, and CPF Life annuity. Investment products bought through CPFIS and Dependent Protection Scheme (DPS) Insurance are not covered under CPF nomination. These assets will form part of your estate distributable under a will or Intestate Succession Act.

Depending on your unique family structure, you can make nominations as follows:

Cash Nomination:

This is the most straight-forward nomination. Your nominees will receive your CPF in cash (i.e. cheque or transfer to their bank account) upon your death.

For cash nomination, you can nominate a person (of any relationship to you) with relevant identity card number, an organisation registered under ACRA with relevant ACRA Registration Number, or a society registered under the Registry of Societies with Unique Entity Number (UEN).

Enhanced Nomination Scheme (ENS) Nomination:

You can opt for your nominees to receive your CPF savings in their CPF accounts. There are two options.

1. Option 1: You can opt for your nominees to receive your CPF in their Special Account (SA) or Retirement Account (RA) first, subject to the prevailing Minimum Sum limit applicable at the time of the transfer of moneys to the nominee(s), and thereafter into Medisave Account (MA) subject to the prevailing Medisave Contribution Ceiling applicable to the nominees at the time of the transfer of moneys.
2. Option 2: You can opt for your nominees to receive your CPF savings in their Medisave Account (MA) first, subject to the prevailing Medisave Contribution Ceiling applicable to the nominee(s) at the time of transfer of moneys, and thereafter into Special Account or Retirement Account, subject to the prevailing Minimum Sum limit applicable at the time of transfer of moneys to the nominees.

Special Needs Savings Scheme (SNSS):

You can nominate a Person with Disabilities (PWD) to receive your CPF savings in monthly cash instalments upon your demise. You may opt to transfer a share (%) of your Medisave savings to the nominee’s Medisave Account specifically for his/her healthcare needs, and to nominate your nominee(s) to receive a corresponding share (%) of your other CPF savings in monthly cash instalments.

Points to pay attention to:

1. When you marry, your CPF nomination will be revoked.
2. When you divorce, your nomination will not be revoked. You can revoke your nomination by informing CPF Board, or you can re-do your nomination.
3. When you re-marry and have children from your previous marriage, your earlier nomination will be revoked, and your CPF savings will be distributed 50% to your current spouse, and 50% to all your children. Of course, you should re-do your nomination to appropriately allocate your CPF savings upon your death.
4. Your will does not supersede an earlier nomination.
5. If your nominee is an undischarged bankrupt, you might want to re-allocate the CPF nomination. Otherwise, if the nominee is still an undischarged bankrupt at the time your CPF savings are paid out, the CPF Board will be legally obliged to inform the Official Assignee (OA) of any assets that are due to him.
6. You can authorise the Board to disclose your CPF information after your demise to an appointed person. The relevant information is: (i) the names of your nominee(s) and witnesses; (ii) the relationship between yourself and – (a) your nominee(s); and (b) the witnesses to this nomination form; (iii) the proportion of your CPF moneys that each nominee has been nominated to receive; and (iv) your latest CPF Statement of Account and the current year’s Transaction History as of the date of your death.
7. You can authorise a person to act on your behalf if you subsequently lack mental capacity within the meaning of section 4 of the Mental Capacity Act (Cap 177A) (“MI member”).