Verified facts

The Library — estate, trust & inheritance answers

One page answers one question, completely, in the first paragraph — every number dated, every claim sourced, every page carrying its last verification date.

What this page is forCome here with a question; leave with the answer and its source. These pages are written to be forwarded — to a sibling, a parent, an adviser — so the conversation starts from a verified fact instead of an argument.

Verified 2026-09-13Does Singapore have inheritance tax?
No. Singapore abolished estate duty for deaths on or after 15 February 2008. What that does and does not mean for a foreign family holding assets through Singapore.
Verified 2026-10-02How long are the accounts frozen when someone dies?
Until the grant, 2–6 months per DBS: Singapore banks freeze a deceased's sole accounts. Under S$5,000 is claimable direct; a joint account can be contested.
Verified 2026-09-28My father refuses to discuss succession. Where do we start?
If your father refuses to discuss succession planning, ask who signs if he is in hospital, and tell the whole family. A 2026 Singapore case shows why.
Verified 2026-09-27Why do guides disagree on Singapore's family-office minimum?
S$5m, S$10m, S$20m or S$50m? Each is a real MAS figure for a different fund or year. For a single family office under 13O the minimum is S$20 million in Designated Investments (MAS circular, 31 July 2026); S$5m belongs to funds run by licensed managers.
Verified 2026-10-08My father had a stroke. Is it too late to set up a trust or a will?
Usually not. Singapore tests capacity at the pen; in Sept 2026 the High Court upheld a will signed at 92 with cognitive decline. What decides it, what fails.
Verified 2026-09-30My father has another family. Can they claim the estate?
A second family can claim an estate in Singapore only through a will, a nomination or a lawful marriage; blood alone gives nothing. Statute and a 2025 ruling.
Verified 2026-10-09How do I find out what is in my father's will?
While he lives, generally you cannot. After death the will is lodged for probate, and a copy can be had from the court file. What you can know, and when.
Verified 2026-08-29How do heirs actually receive money from a trust — monthly?
Monthly is a design choice in the deed, not a law. The four routes money reaches an heir from a Singapore trust: income, discretion, advancement, lifetime pay.
Verified 2026-08-29Will the inheritance be enough to live on — and how do well-planned families make sure it is?
Enough is not a number. It is three certainties — the roof, the income, the capital — and each is fixed by a document while everyone is still alive.
Verified 2026-09-17How do I ask about inheritance without looking greedy?
Ask about the machinery, not the money: will, original, executor, LPA — 404,000 citizens had one at 20 Feb 2026, Form 1 now free — and who signs if he is in hospital.
Verified 2026-08-29My parents have no will and won't make one. What happens to us?
No will means the Intestate Succession Act 1967 s7 decides — spouse one-half, children the other half between them. What that does to a family shareholding, and who gets appointed.
Verified 2026-08-29Father says it's all arranged, but nobody has seen anything. What can we actually check?
Shareholdings, directorships and property titles are public record in Singapore. CPF and insurance nominations are not. What S$5.50, S$10 and S$30 will actually tell you.
Verified 2026-08-29My brother runs the family business. Am I entitled to anything?
Entitlement follows the share register, not the org chart. What a minority shareholder can demand under the Companies Act 1967 — and why a dividend is not on the list.
Verified 2026-08-29Who inherits when there is no will in Singapore?
Under the Intestate Succession Act 1967, s7, a spouse alone takes the whole estate; a spouse and children take half each. Muslim estates fall outside the Act.
Verified 2026-08-29My sibling and I own the family company 50/50 and can't agree. What happens?
Nothing, until someone goes to court — and a court's remedies are a forced buy-out or a winding-up: Companies Act 1967 s216, IRDA 2018 s125. What to sign first.
Verified 2026-08-29How much money do you actually need for a Singapore family office?
Three questions answered as one. Only the first has an official floor: MAS Circular FDD Cir 05/2026 sets 13O at S$20m, 13U at S$50m in Designated Investments.
Verified 2026-08-29What happens to my father's company shares under faraid?
Shares are estate property under faraid — and so are the profits and subsidiaries grown from them (Mufti WP, AL-KAFI #1507, 8 Jan 2020). What a family can do.
Verified 2026-08-29Hibah or wasiat: which one actually moves the asset?
Hibah moves the asset now and takes it out of faraid. Wasiat moves it at death, caps at one-third of the net estate, and needs heirs' consent to reach an heir.
Verified 2026-08-29Can a Malaysian family use a Singapore trust — and what does it not fix?
Yes — and it is normally shares that go in, not Malaysian land. What Trustees Act 1967 s90 covers, and what RPGT, FEP limits and faraid still decide.
Verified 2026-09-18Does Taiwan tax my father's overseas assets when he dies?
Yes, if he habitually resides in Taiwan — the whole worldwide estate. NT$13.33m exempt in 2026; 10/15/20% at NT$56.21m and NT$112.42m. What Singapore changes.
Verified 2026-09-22Does Thailand's inheritance tax reach my father's Singapore assets?
Thailand taxes the heir, not the estate: a Thai heir pays 5-10% above THB100m on assets in and outside Thailand. Singapore's zero estate duty does not stop it.
Verified 2026-09-18Can a Thai family use a Singapore trust - and what does it not fix?
Thai law gives private trusts no effect (Civil and Commercial Code s1686), so families use Singapore. What Trustees Act s90 protects, and its four conditions.
Verified 2026-09-21Can an Indonesian family use a Singapore trust - and what does it not fix?
Indonesia does not tax inheritance. What a Singapore trust protects under Trustees Act s90, and why Indonesian land, faraid and the religious court stay put.
Verified 2026-09-14Who can sign for my father while he is in hospital?
Nobody signs automatically, and for treatment nobody needs to (Mental Capacity Act 2008 s7). What a registered LPA authorises, what deputyship costs and takes (4–6 weeks simplified), and why the company answers to the board.
Verified 2026-08-29My mother's name isn't on anything. What can she access?
More than the file suggests. Joint accounts, CPF, nominated policies and joint tenancies pay outside probate; the Intestate Succession Act gives a spouse half.
Verified 2026-10-06My parents transferred everything to my sibling while they were alive. Can that be undone?
Usually not. Singapore's succession statutes reach the estate, not gifts made before death; a promise your sibling made to your parents is not yours to enforce ([2026] SGHC 161, 31 July 2026).
Verified 2026-08-29Why do law firms give different answers on how long probate takes in Singapore?
Because they time different things — and the courts publish no duration at all. Five firm pages, dated, against the government's own 3-to-6-month figure.
Verified 2026-08-31Who inherits in Taiwan, in what order, and what share?
Civil Code Article 1138 sets four ranks and only the highest surviving rank inherits at all; Article 1144 fixes the spouse's share against it.
Verified 2026-09-18What is Taiwan's estate tax exemption in 2026, and do overseas assets count?
NT$13.33m exemption, brackets at 10/15/20% from NT$56.21m — Ministry of Finance figures for 2026 deaths, announced 27 Nov 2025. Overseas assets count.
Verified 2026-09-04Can Taiwan's compulsory portion (特留分) be avoided — and does a Singapore trust do it?
Not by will. Civil Code art 1223 fixes the floor; art 1225 abates 遺贈 only. What lifetime gifts, insurance and a Singapore trust really change — and do not.
Verified 2026-10-01Taiwan's three-month deadline to renounce an inheritance (拋棄繼承): does it cover overseas debts — and what happens to the Singapore account?
Overseas debts count, and a Taiwan renunciation sheds them if filed within three months of learning you are an heir (art 1174). Late? Art 1148 still caps you.
Verified 2026-09-10How does Taiwan's National Taxation Bureau find overseas income and overseas assets — and is a Singapore account visible?
Two ledgers, two statutes. Taiwan's CRS partners are Australia, Japan and the UK — not Singapore. The new agreement's exchange article took effect 13 Feb 2026.
Verified 2026-09-11Does life insurance really escape Taiwan estate tax — and where does the '3,330萬 tax-free' figure come from?
The 3,330萬 number is stale, and it is not estate tax. The indexed figure has been NT$37.4m since the 113 year; the estate-tax exclusion has no cap at all.