Update Will After Divorce Singapore: Why Divorce Doesn't Revoke Your Will

Marriage Revokes a Will. Divorce Does Not.

This catches almost everyone off guard. Under Singapore law, getting married automatically revokes any existing will you have. But getting divorced does not. If you wrote a will during your marriage naming your spouse as the primary beneficiary, that will remains fully valid after your divorce is finalized.

The practical consequence: if you die without updating your will, your ex-spouse inherits whatever you bequeathed to them. The court won't interpret your divorce as an implied revocation. The document says what it says.

You Can't Just Cross Out the Old Will

Striking through clauses, writing margin notes, or tearing out pages doesn't create a valid amendment — it can actually invalidate the entire document. Under Singapore's Wills Act, any modification to a will must follow the same formalities as executing a new one.

You have two options:

Option 1 — Codicil: A codicil is a legal supplement that amends specific provisions of an existing will. It must be signed by you in the presence of two independent witnesses who are not beneficiaries under the will. Codicils work for minor changes, but they can create confusion when read alongside the original will.

Option 2 — Execute a new will (recommended): Draft an entirely new will that explicitly states it revokes and cancels all prior wills and codicils. This is cleaner and eliminates any ambiguity about which provisions are current. The new will must be:

• Signed by you (the testator)
• Witnessed by two independent witnesses present at the same time
• Neither witness should be a beneficiary under the will

For complex estates — business interests, overseas property, trusts — engage a lawyer.

CPF Nominations Survive Divorce Too

The same principle applies to your CPF nomination. A CPF nomination is revoked by marriage but not by divorce. If you nominated your ex-spouse during the marriage and haven't updated it, the CPF savings covered by that nomination go to them upon your death.

To update it:

1. Log into the CPF website with Singpass
2. Go to "My Requests" → "Make/Change Nomination"
3. Add your new nominee(s) and specify the allocation percentages
4. Confirm the nomination

If you haven't made a nomination at all, your CPF savings are distributed under the Intestate Succession Act (for non-Muslims) or the Inheritance Certificate (for Muslims) — which means the default statutory shares, not necessarily who you'd choose.

Lasting Power of Attorney

If you appointed your ex-spouse as a Donee under a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), the appointment is automatically terminated upon divorce under Section 15 of the Mental Capacity Act, unless the LPA explicitly states otherwise. That's the good news.

The catch: this termination doesn't automatically appear in the Office of the Public Guardian's (OPG) records. You need to notify the OPG formally:

• Submit a copy of your Certificate of Final Judgment
• Complete the LPA Change of Particulars Form
• Do this within 14 days of the divorce being finalized
• Return the original registered LPA and all certified copies to the OPG

If your LPA only named your ex-spouse as Donee, you'll need to register a new LPA with a different Donee entirely. If it named multiple Donees, the OPG updates the record to remove the ex-spouse.

Insurance Beneficiaries

Private life insurance nominations also survive divorce. The process for updating depends on the type of nomination:

Trust nominations (Section 49L of the Insurance Act): These create an irrevocable trust in favour of a spouse or children. Once executed, the policyholder loses rights to the policy benefits. Crucially, a trust nomination cannot be revoked without the written consent of all named nominees. If your ex-spouse was a nominee and refuses to consent, the trust remains active.

Revocable nominations (Section 49M): These allow you to update or revoke the nomination at any time without anyone's consent. To revoke a nomination, submit the statutory Form 5 to your insurer, signed in the presence of two independent witnesses aged 21 or above. For a new nomination, follow the insurer's current nomination procedure.

DPS (Dependants' Protection Scheme): Check your DPS coverage and nomination separately from your private policies. Submit the physical Form 4 revocable nomination to Great Eastern.

Don't Wait on This

Estate planning updates are easy to postpone and easy to forget. But the consequences of inaction are severe — your ex-spouse could inherit assets you assumed were protected, and your children or intended beneficiaries receive nothing.

Our Singapore After-Divorce Checklist includes an estate planning section that covers wills, CPF nominations, LPA updates, and insurance beneficiary changes — with the specific forms and deadlines for each. Get the complete toolkit so nothing gets left pointing at the wrong person.

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