Q I AM a 29-year-old executive with no assets except for some small savings, several insurance plans that will pay out on my death and an HDB flat that I will eventually co-own with my older sister.

I am estranged from my father, who divorced my mother more than 10 years ago and has not supported us since. I do not wish to leave a cent to him, my step-siblings or my step-mother.

I have nominated beneficiaries for the payouts from my insurance plans, and I have excluded my father.

If I do not make a will, is this enough to ensure that my father cannot get a share of my money when I die?

A IF YOU die intestate, that is, without a will, your estate will be distributed to your parents in equal shares if you are single at that point. If you are married without children, half will go to your parents and the other half to your spouse.

Thus, you should make a will if you do not wish to leave anything to your father.

The death proceeds from your life insurance policies will go to the beneficiaries you have named. In the unlikely event that your named beneficiaries do not file a claim with the insurance companies, your executor (if you die with a will) or administrator (if you die without one), or any legitimate claimant under insurance laws (such as your father), can seek to have the proceeds paid to them.

The recipient would then be legally obligated to distribute the proceeds in accordance with the law, that is, as specified under your will, in accordance with intestacy laws or to your named beneficiaries, as the case might be.

If your co-owned HDB flat is held under a joint tenancy, your share would go to the surviving joint tenants. If it is held under a tenancy in common, your share would be distributed in accordance with your will, or intestacy laws if you die without a will.

Leong Sze Hian
President
Society of Financial Service Professionals

Advice provided in this column is not meant as a substitute for comprehensive professional advice. E-mail questions to a1admin@sph.com.sg.

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