Estate Settlement of Equity and Bond
In Singapore, investment in equities and bonds are held and transacted through Central Depository (Pte) Ltd, commonly known as CDP. Therefore, if the investor passes away, the legal representative needs to settle the estate clearance process with CDP.
Upon knowing that the investor has died, the deceased person’s securities account will be updated to an estate account. The personal representative of the estate needs to extract a letter of administration or a grant of probate from the court, and present it to CDP in person. The other documents needed are the death certificate, asset schedule, and the personal representative identification card. Subsequently, a request to transfer the securities can be made.
It is not necessary to liquidate the securities. These securities can be transferred to the rightful beneficiaries according to the deceased person’s will or under the intestacy law. The personal representative will be notified once the transfers are completed.
There will be a transfer fee incurred. At the time of this writing, the fee is $10.70 (inclusive of GST) per counter per transfer request.
If the grant of probate is extracted overseas, the foreign grant has to be resealed in Singapore Court.
If the personal representative is overseas, his signature has to be witnessed by the Notary Public, and the supporting documents have to be certified by the Notary Public before mailing to CDP.