When a person passes away and has a valid will, the beneficiaries need the Executor to apply for the court for a grant of probate Singapore. When the court issues probate, it confers authority to the Executor (the person named in the Will) to deal with the deceased’s estate.
The Executor can then direct banks and financial institutions to transfer the money pending distribution to the beneficiaries. Keep in mind the executor needs to produce the original will when they engage a probate a lawyer to apply for probate.
In the event that a person passes away and did not leave behind a valid will, the beneficiaries need the personal representative to apply to the court to obtain Letters of Administration. When the court issues Letters of Administration, the Administrator can collect or sell the deceased assets and distribute them to the rightful beneficiaries.
The administrator is usually the spouse or one of the next of kin of the deceased. Since there was no will, the administrator will have to distribute the assets in accordance with the Intestate Succession Act (Cap 146) for non-Muslims or by the Administration of Muslim Law Act for Muslims.
It is worth mentioning that the Executor is responsible for administering the estate. For this reason, they are an important person when it comes to grant of probate Singapore. In addition, since the Executor has to collect the deceased assets, the assets flow to them before distributing them to the beneficiaries. In this regard, if you’re making a will, you should choose the Exceutor with care.
The Executor has strict duties to distribute the state as per the Deceased’s Will. However, there are a couple of things that the Executor must do. The Executor must find out what assets the deceased has and their value. Not to mention, they must first pay the debts of the deceased. The debts include IRAS taxes, credit card debts, housing and vehicle loans and personal loans before distributing the balance of the assets to the beneficiaries in accordance with the instructions in the will.
If the deceased didn’t name an executor in their Will, the court will appoint a person who is ideal to manage the deceased person’s estate. In this case, the grant extracted is known as Grant of Letters of Administration with the Will annexed, instead of a grant of probate Singapore.
