Do you need a Will?

For ordinary folks like us with few assets, a will is not necessary.

Many would say having a will is beneficial for making allocating assets easy in the event of a sudden death.

However, how likely it is for one to encounter a sudden death?

Using my late father as an example, he only had shares in the CDP, money in bank accounts and of course, in the CPF as well.

He made a will back in 1994 and a nomination for CPF. His bank accounts and HDB flat are jointly owned by him and my mum. So when he passed away, we only had to apply for a Grant of Probate to claim his shares in the CDP (even this can be avoided).

I would suggest saving the money for making a will ($100-$200) and making everything jointly owned and nominated if possible. Further, CPF monies are not covered by wills.

Exceptions:

1. you cannot provide a nomination for CDP shares and one way is to transfer when the person is still alive. When the person is gone, you'd need to apply for a Grant of Probate (if there's a will) or a Grant of Administration with the engagement of a lawyer, which costs $1200-$2000. It'd be cheaper if you do it yourself although the process can be quite daunting for most people like us. Yet another alternative is to go through the Public Trustee but it charges fees for doing so. 

What do you think?