CPF Nominations

A CPF nomination is a Singapore Central Provident Fund (CPF) member's instruction to CPF Board naming who should receive the member's CPF savings after the member dies, and in what shares. CPF savings are paid out under the CPF nomination, not under the member's will, so a member who wants particular people to receive the money must make a nomination with CPF Board. Without a valid nomination, the savings go to the Public Trustee's Office for distribution under intestacy law or Muslim inheritance rules, which takes longer and incurs a fee (CPF Board, accessed Oct 2026).

Who can nominate and what a nomination covers

A CPF member can make a CPF nomination from age 16, and CPF Board advises members to make one as soon as they start working and building savings. A member can name anyone as a nominee, including a person who does not have a CPF account (CPF Board, accessed Oct 2026).

A CPF nomination covers the savings in the member's Ordinary, Special, MediSave and Retirement Accounts, any CPF LIFE premium balance that has not been paid out, and Discounted Singtel Shares. It does not cover three things that people often assume are included: properties bought using CPF savings, payouts from the Dependants' Protection Scheme, and investments made under the CPF Investment Scheme (CPF Board, accessed Oct 2026). These assets are dealt with separately, for example through the member's estate or the insurer, so a CPF nomination is not a complete estate plan. The excluded schemes are described in cpf insurance schemes and cpf investment scheme.

How to make a nomination

A CPF nomination can be made online by logging in with Singpass. The member needs each nominee's NRIC or FIN, mailing address and email, and the same details plus a Singapore-registered mobile number for two witnesses. ServiceSG Centres can help members complete the online process (CPF Board, accessed Oct 2026).

A member can instead make a nomination in person by booking an appointment with CPF Board at least one working day ahead, bringing the member's NRIC or passport and photocopies of nominees' identity documents, and completing the form in front of two witnesses, who can be CPF customer service executives. A witness cannot be a nominee or an organisation (CPF Board, accessed Oct 2026).

Marriage, divorce and keeping a nomination current

A CPF nomination is revoked automatically upon marriage, so a member who marries must make a new nomination if the member still wants one to apply. Divorce, by contrast, does not revoke an existing nomination: a former spouse named before the divorce remains a nominee until the member changes the nomination (CPF Board, accessed Oct 2026).

The asymmetry between marriage and divorce is a common source of unintended outcomes, which is why CPF Board recommends making a new nomination after marriage and reviewing the nomination every year (CPF Board, accessed Oct 2026).

What happens without a nomination

If a CPF member dies without a valid CPF nomination, the CPF savings are transferred to the Public Trustee's Office. The Public Trustee distributes them according to intestacy laws or, for Muslims, a Muslim Inheritance Certificate. CPF Board says it can take up to six months to identify which family members are eligible to claim; this is not a guaranteed end-to-end distribution or payout deadline. An administrative fee is deducted from the savings before distribution (CPF Board, accessed Oct 2026).

By contrast, nominees pay no charges when CPF savings are distributed under a valid nomination (CPF Board, accessed Oct 2026). The practical difference is therefore speed, cost and control: a nomination lets the member decide who receives the savings and in what proportions, while the intestacy route follows legal rules that may not match the member's wishes. Questions about how a CPF-financed flat is treated on death fall under property and estate rules rather than the nomination; CPF housing rules are covered in cpf housing usage.