CPF Nomination — a quick primer
Q: What’s this all about?
A: When you die, if you have money left in your CPF account, you can decide who gets it.
Q: Well, I’ve gotten a will done, so that will cover CPF savings right?
A: Actually, no. CPF savings cannot be distributed via a will.
Q: Oh! So what’s CPF nomination?
A: That’s when you tell CPF how you want your CPF savings to be distributed when you die — e.g. 30% to your son, 30% to your daughter, 20% to your spouse, 20% to your mistre — err, ignore that last part.
Q: But what’s the point? It just ends up in their CPF and they can’t touch it anyway, right?
A: No, you can choose for them to receive your CPF savings in cold, hard, cash.
Q: Ok that changes things! But what happens if I die and I haven’t made a CPF nomination? Is CPF going to take it away?
A: No, CPF will distribute it in accordance to intestacy laws (i.e. the rules that apply if you do not have a will). CPF will also impose a charge. The point is that you lose control over how your CPF savings are to be distributed.
Q: Ok, but I have no time to do this now. I’ll get around to it eventually…
A: Actually, as of January this year, you can now make your CPF nomination online. It used to be that you had to personally go down to a CPF Service Centre. But not anymore! So no excuses. Get it done.
Drop a note if you’d like to discuss more — whether it’s about CPF, wills, estate planning, or anything legal-related.
P.S. this is not legal advice, for general information only, etc etc, you know the drill.
