Frequently asked questions

MakeGoodwill is an online will-writing platform based in Singapore. We help you create a legally valid will from home, in about an hour – guided step by step, designed to comply with Singapore law, and yours to update any time as your life changes.

MakeGoodwill is run by Plover Tech Pte Ltd. Over 1,100 wills have been created through the platform since its launch.

We're not a law firm, and we don't provide legal advice. We're a digital platform that helps you create a legally valid will, designed by lawyers to comply with and take into account the Wills Act 1838, the Probate and Administration Act 1934, and Singapore case law. For complex estates, please consult a lawyer and obtain independent legal advice.

You can use MakeGoodwill if you are 21 years of age or older, of sound mind, and a Singapore resident or have assets in Singapore.

Yes. MakeGoodwill is suited for anyone with assets in Singapore – citizens, permanent residents, employment pass holders, and other expats living here. Your will is designed to comply with Singapore law, whatever your nationality. If you're resident in Singapore, your will covers your worldwide assets; if you're resident outside Singapore, it covers only your Singapore-situated assets. If you hold significant assets outside Singapore, you should seek legal advice on whether a Singapore will is enough or whether a separate will is needed in another country.

Inheritance for Muslims in Singapore is governed by Syariah law and the Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966, with a fixed faraid distribution administered by the Syariah Court.

This is specialist territory, and a standard will isn't the right fit. We would recommend consulting a lawyer who specialises in Muslim estate planning.

There are three steps:

1. Answer a few guided questions online – about you, your family, your assets, your beneficiaries, and your executor.
2. Review your completed will, then print it and sign it in the presence of two independent witnesses.
3. Store the signed will somewhere safe. Your digital copy stays in your account so you can update any time.

The whole online portion usually takes about an hour. You can save and come back to it across multiple sessions.

About an hour for most people. If your situation is straightforward, it can be done in even less time. You can pause and pick it up later – your progress is saved automatically.

Yes. When you add your partner's will in the same checkout, you receive 50% off – SGD 89.50 for the second will. Each person creates their own will with their own decisions.

Once you've paid, your partner receives an email with a redemption code. They create their own MakeGoodwill account, work through their will, and enter the code at checkout to get their will for free.

If the email isn't in your partner's inbox, it's worth checking the spam, junk, or social/promotions folder.

We do not, and we generally do not recommend them. Individual wills are more flexible, can be updated independently, and avoid complications if one partner later wants to make a change. For couples, we offer 50% off the second will so both partners can have their own.

The Individual Will is SGD 179 as a one-time payment. This includes:

• Your legally valid will, designed to comply with Singapore law
• One year of unlimited edits
• Help from our will-writing team
• Secure, lifetime access to your documents in your account
• Coverage for your Singapore assets
• Guardianship, gifts, and personal messages
• A 30-day money-back guarantee

After your first year, you can continue with unlimited edits for SGD 35 per year. The subscription is optional – if you do not subscribe, your existing will remains valid and you keep lifetime access to your documents. You will not be able to make further edits unless you renew.

Building the platform online lets us serve many more clients without the overheads of a traditional law office. We pass those savings on to you in the form of a flat, transparent price – and we include unlimited edits in your first year so your will can keep up with your life.

Your will can cover:

• Appointment of executors – appoint a primary and a substitute executor to administer your estate, or joint executors.
• Distribution of your assets – specific gifts (personal items, real property, financial accounts, or cash); your residuary estate, divided among your beneficiaries by percentages you choose; and substitute beneficiaries, in case someone you've named can't inherit.
• Guardianship of children – appoint a guardian for your children, if they're under 21 years of age.
• A caretaker for your pets – name someone to look after them.
• Personal messages to the people you love.

Your MakeGoodwill package includes:

• A complete signing instruction sheet
• Your last will and testament
• A signature page for you and your two independent witnesses
• A Schedule of Assets that lists your bank accounts, property, investments, and other assets to help your executor
• A dedicated section for personal messages to your loved ones

Everything is generated as a single PDF, ready to print and sign.

A few important things sit outside your will and need to be handled separately:

• Nominated CPF accounts – the funds in these go to your nominee.
• Insurance policies with a nominated beneficiary – these go to your nominee.
• Property held as joint tenants – this passes automatically to the surviving co-owner.
• Joint bank accounts held as joint tenants – these pass automatically to the surviving co-owner.
• Anything you hold on trust for someone else.

One thing to note: for property and joint bank accounts held as joint tenants, if you outlive the other joint tenant(s), you become the sole owner – and your will then covers it as part of your residuary estate.

Yes. You can leave a percentage of your estate, a specific sum, or a specific item to any registered charity. If the charity is unable to receive the gift at the time, your will directs your executor to give it to a similar charity that best fulfils your wishes.

Four steps:

1. Print your completed will.
2. Bind the pages so they can't easily be separated.
3. Sign every page in front of two independent witnesses, physically in ink, with all three of you in the same room at the same time.
4. Have both witnesses sign and date the witness section in your presence, also physically in ink.

Don't use electronic signatures. Store the signed original somewhere safe, and let your executor know where to find it. You now have a legally valid will.

A witness must be:

• 21 years of age or older
• Of sound mind
• Not a beneficiary in your will
• Not married to a beneficiary in your will

Friends, colleagues, and most relatives can be witnesses, but only if they don't benefit under your will and aren't married to anyone who does.

No. There is no requirement in Singapore to notarise your will. Once it is signed and witnessed correctly, it is legally valid.

Yes – registration is optional. You can register your will through the Wills Registry maintained by the Singapore Academy of Law at wills.sal.sg. The fee is SGD 50 per submission. Registration takes 5 to 10 minutes online and SAL takes around 3 to 5 working days to process.

The Wills Registry records your personal details, the date of the will, details of who drew up the will, and where the will is kept. It does not store a copy of your will and does not require any information about your assets. Registration does not affect the validity of your will.

Your will is designed to comply with and take into account the Wills Act 1838, the Probate and Administration Act 1934, and Singapore case law. It's generated from a template designed by lawyers in Singapore. Once it's generated, you need to print and sign it physically in ink, in the presence of two independent witnesses, for it to be validly executed – that is, legally valid – under the laws of Singapore.

Wills created through online platforms are routinely accepted by the Family Justice Courts during probate. If your will is generated after the fields are completed correctly, and is duly executed by a testator with capacity, of their own free will, the will is valid – and the fact that it was created through an online platform doesn't affect that validity. If you have complex legal issues or specific circumstances that don't fall within the fields provided, please seek independent legal advice from a lawyer.

You do not legally have to make a will. But without one, your estate is distributed by a fixed legal formula under the Intestate Succession Act 1967, and the people you would like to provide for – unmarried partners, stepchildren, close friends, or charities – receive nothing. With a will, you decide.

A will also lets you name a guardian for your children, choose an executor you trust, and leave personal messages to your loved ones.

If you pass away without a will (known as dying "intestate"), your estate is shared out according to a fixed formula under the Intestate Succession Act 1967. Broadly:

• A spouse and no children: your spouse receives the entire estate.
• A spouse and children: your spouse receives half, and your children share the other half equally.
• Children and no spouse: your children receive everything equally.
• No spouse and no children: your estate passes in stages – first to your parents; if none, to your siblings; if none, to your grandparents; and if none, to your aunts and uncles.

The Public Trustee or a court-appointed administrator manages the process. This formula doesn't take your individual wishes into account, and unmarried partners, stepchildren, and close friends aren't included.

Your will takes effect after you pass away – it's how you decide what happens to your estate.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) takes effect while you're still alive – it appoints someone to make decisions on your behalf if you lose mental capacity. LPAs are registered with the Office of the Public Guardian in Singapore.

The two work together but cover different stages of life. MakeGoodwill helps you with your will. An LPA needs to be certified by an accredited LPA Certificate Issuer – an accredited medical practitioner, psychiatrist, or lawyer – before it's registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. Please consult a lawyer and obtain independent legal advice if you'd like to create an LPA.

Probate is almost always needed. There are a few exceptions in Singapore, such as:

• Estates under SGD 50,000 – your family may be able to apply to the Public Trustee's Office to administer the estate without going to court.
• Jointly held assets – joint tenancy property and joint bank accounts pass to the surviving owner outside the estate, so they aren't dealt with under a Grant of Probate.

For most estates, probate is the standard process. We would recommend consulting a lawyer who handles probate matters for clarity on your specific situation.

Log in to your account, make the changes you need, and download the updated will. Then print it, sign it in the presence of two independent witnesses, and destroy the older signed version. The new will automatically supersedes the older one.

Your first year includes unlimited updates. After that, you can continue updating any time with the annual subscription at SGD 35 per year.

There are two parts to your estate plan and they have different rules for updates.

Your Schedule of Assets is the inventory that helps your executor locate everything you own. It is not a testamentary document, so updates do not need new witnesses or a fresh signing. Update it whenever your assets change.

Your will itself is the legal document, and a fresh signing with two independent witnesses is needed each time it changes. Common reasons to update it:

• You get married – your existing will is automatically revoked, so a new one is needed
• You get divorced – former-spouse provisions stay in effect until you update
• You add, change, or remove a specific gift to a named person
• You welcome a new pet you'd like to name a caretaker for
• A beneficiary, executor, or guardian passes away or is no longer the right choice
• You want to change how your residuary estate is divided

If your circumstances are stable, reviewing your will every two or three years is a healthy habit.

Yes. Under Section 13 of the Wills Act, your will is automatically revoked when you get married. If you signed your will before getting married, you'll need to create a new one afterwards.

There's one exception: a will made "in contemplation of marriage" to a specific person stays valid after that marriage. This needs to be set out clearly in the will itself.

A divorce doesn't automatically revoke your will – and, importantly, it doesn't lapse any gifts or appointments in favour of your former spouse either. Unlike some other countries, Singapore law leaves your will untouched after a divorce. That means any gifts to your former spouse, and any appointment of them as executor, stay in effect until you update your will yourself.

If you have divorced or are going through a divorce, updating your will is one of the most important things you can do to make sure your estate reflects your current wishes.

If you're resident in Singapore, your will covers your worldwide assets. Two things to note: it revokes any prior wills or testamentary arrangements you've made; and if you hold assets outside Singapore, you should seek legal advice to make sure your will is valid and effective in the relevant foreign jurisdictions. We can't guarantee that a will created through MakeGoodwill will be recognised outside Singapore.

If you're resident outside Singapore, your will covers only your Singapore-situated assets. Again, it revokes prior arrangements to the extent they relate to your Singapore assets, and you should seek independent legal advice so your overall estate planning isn't inadvertently affected.

You can reach us by email at hello@makegoodwill.com or by clicking the Talk to us button on the website to start a chat. Our will-writing team replies within 24 hours, every working day.