Schedule of Assets Singapore: What to Include and How to Compile One

Three months after a death, most executors in Singapore hit the same wall. The Family Justice Courts require a Schedule of Assets before they'll process a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration — a complete inventory of everything the deceased owned and owed at the exact moment of death. And until you produce it, not a single frozen bank account gets unlocked.

The problem isn't that the concept is complicated. The problem is that most people have no idea what their own family members actually own, let alone where to find the documentation. Compiling a schedule of assets means writing to every bank, checking CPF records, tracking down insurance policies, valuing property, and identifying debts — all while grieving.

What a Schedule of Assets Is

The Schedule of Assets is a court-mandated document filed as part of your probate or Letters of Administration application. It lists every asset and liability the deceased held at the date of death, with current values.

The Family Justice Courts charge a filing fee of $15 for the schedule. But the real cost isn't the fee — it's the weeks of detective work to compile it.

The schedule must be comprehensive and accurate. If you discover additional assets after the grant is issued, you'll need to file a supplementary schedule with the court, which means more paperwork, more fees, and more delays.

What to Include

Bank accounts: Every account at every bank — savings, current, fixed deposits, and foreign currency accounts. You need the exact balance as of the date of death. Write to each bank (DBS, OCBC, UOB, and any others) with a copy of the death certificate requesting a statement of balances. Banks typically respond within 2 to 4 weeks.

For accounts with balances under $5,000 total at a single bank, the bank may release funds directly to the next-of-kin via an indemnity form without requiring probate. But you still need to declare these accounts on the schedule.

CPF savings: Check the deceased's CPF balance across all four accounts — Ordinary, Special, MediSave, and Retirement. If the deceased made a valid CPF nomination, these funds go directly to the nominees and bypass the estate entirely. If there's no nomination, the CPF balance goes to the Public Trustee and must be included in the schedule.

One critical exception: investments made through the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) — shares, unit trusts, gold — are not covered by the CPF nomination. They form part of the legal estate and must be listed.

Insurance policies: Life insurance payouts go to the named beneficiary in the policy, not through the estate. However, any policies where the estate is named as beneficiary, or where no beneficiary is specified, must be declared. Contact every insurer the deceased held a policy with.

Don't forget the Dependants' Protection Scheme (DPS), a term-life insurance policy managed by Great Eastern Life. This requires a separate direct claim to Great Eastern — it doesn't fall under the CPF nomination.

Property: For HDB flats and private property, you need the current market value. Joint tenancy properties pass automatically to the surviving co-owner via the Right of Survivorship and technically don't form part of the estate — but tenancy-in-common shares do, and they must be valued and included.

The manner of holding matters enormously. Check the title deed or HDB records to confirm whether the property was held as joint tenants or tenants-in-common. Getting this wrong can derail the entire schedule.

Shares and investments: Check the Central Depository (CDP) for any shares held in the deceased's name. Contact any brokerage firms for trading account balances. Include unit trusts, bonds, and any other investment instruments.

Vehicles: Any cars, motorcycles, or other registered vehicles. Check with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) via the OneMotoring portal. Include the current market value and note any outstanding hire-purchase loans — these are liabilities that must be settled before the vehicle can be transferred.

Other assets: Safe deposit boxes (contact the bank for access procedures — this requires the grant), jewellery and valuables, overseas assets, business interests, and any money owed to the deceased (outstanding loans to friends, rental deposits, tax refunds).

Debts and liabilities: The schedule isn't just assets — it must include everything the deceased owed. Credit card balances, outstanding loans, hire-purchase agreements, unpaid taxes, medical bills, and funeral expenses. Outstanding income tax must be settled through IRAS before assets can be distributed.

How to Compile It

The process is essentially a paper chase across multiple institutions. Here's the sequence that minimises delays:

Week 1: Send letters to all known banks requesting balance statements as of the date of death. Include a copy of the digital death certificate with each letter. Simultaneously, check CPF online records (if you have the deceased's Singpass access or can request the information via the CPF Board).

Week 2-3: Contact insurance companies, check CDP holdings, and request LTA vehicle records. Begin property valuation — for HDB flats, the last transacted prices of comparable units provide a reasonable estimate.

Week 3-4: Follow up with any institutions that haven't responded. Compile all responses into the schedule format required by the Family Justice Courts.

Filing: Submit the schedule alongside your Originating Application for the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.

Common Mistakes

Forgetting digital assets. Cryptocurrency wallets, e-wallet balances (GrabPay, Singtel Dash), online brokerage accounts, and PayPal balances are real assets with real value. If no one knows the passwords or wallet keys, these assets may be permanently inaccessible. List them on the schedule even if recovery is uncertain.

Missing overseas assets. If the deceased owned property or bank accounts in another country, these must be declared. Cross-border estate administration is complex — you may need a separate grant of probate in that jurisdiction — but the Singapore schedule still requires disclosure.

Confusing joint accounts with estate assets. Joint bank accounts typically pass to the surviving holder under the bank's survivorship rules. But legal ownership can still be contested if other beneficiaries claim the joint account was set up for convenience rather than as a genuine gift. Document the intent behind joint accounts clearly.

Undervaluing or omitting business interests. If the deceased was a sole proprietor, partner, or held shares in an unlisted company, these interests must be professionally valued. This is also a disqualifying factor for Public Trustee administration — if the estate includes unlisted business interests, the PTO will reject the application entirely.

Why Pre-Death Asset Lists Save Weeks

An executor armed with a comprehensive asset list — bank names, account numbers, policy numbers, property details, digital accounts — can compile the Schedule of Assets in days instead of weeks. Without it, the detective work alone can add a month or more to the probate timeline.

The Singapore End-of-Life Planning Guide includes printable asset inventory templates that cover every category the Family Justice Courts require — bank accounts, CPF, insurance, property, investments, vehicles, digital assets, and liabilities — so your executor doesn't have to start from scratch during the hardest period of their life.

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