Distribution of Estates of Deceased Persons

How is the small estate of a deceased distributed?

Muslims
If the deceased was a Muslim, Section 112 of the Administration of Muslim Law Act (Cap. 3) provides that the estate of the deceased shall be distributed according to the school of the Muslim law observed by the deceased.

The applicant will need to obtain an Inheritance Certificate from the Syariah Court. The Syariah Court will ascertain the beneficiaries of the deceased and their respective entitlement before issuing an Inheritance Certificate.

The Public Trustee will distribute the estate of the deceased to the beneficiaries in accordance with the Inheritance Certificate obtained by the applicant from the Syariah Court.

Non-Muslims
If the deceased was a non-Muslim, the Public Trustee will distribute the deceased’s estate in accordance with the Intestate Succession Act (Cap. 146).

Rules on distribution of a deceased's estate under the Intestate Succession Act (Cap. 146)

Section 7 of the Intestate Succession Act (Cap. 146) provides for the following rules of distribution:

Deceased Die Intestate Leaving :	Distribution
Spouse* No Issue* No Parent	Whole share to surviving spouse.
Spouse Issue	½ share to surviving spouse. ½ share to be shared equally among surviving issue. Parents are not entitled.
Spouse Parent No Issue	½ share to surviving spouse. ½ share to be shared equally among surviving parents.
Parents No Spouse	Whole share to be shared equally among surviving parents.
Siblings* and their Children No Spouse No Issue No Parents	Whole share to be shared equally among deceased's siblings and, where they have already died, their children.
Grandparents No Spouse No Issue No Parents No Siblings and Their Children	Whole share to be shared equally among surviving grandparents.
Uncles & Aunts No Spouse No Issue No Parents No Siblings and Their Children No Grandparents	Whole share to be shared equally among surviving uncles and aunts

* Spouse means husband or wife.
* Siblings means brothers and sisters.
* Issue means a child (legitimate or adopted by an Order of Court pursuant to the Adoption Act (Cap. 4) and the descendants of a deceased’s child).

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