Wills Registry to be managed by Singapore Academy of Law from 4 May 2020

31 MAR 2020

31 Mar 2020 Posted in Press releases

  1. From 4 May 2020, the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) will manage the Wills Registry, which is presently under the purview of the Public Trustee’s Office (PTO). The transfer of the registry to SAL is synergistic with SAL’s current services as a provider of legal information and services, making it more convenient for the legal industry and the public. Charges for services currently offered by the Registry will remain the same.

  2. Members of the public who at present have wills information in the Registry need not take any action in relation to this change.

  3. However, to facilitate the transfer, the Wills Registry will stop accepting the depositing of wills information between 22 April 2020 and 3 May 2020. Members of the public who wish to conduct a wills search during this period can do so by downloading the search form from PTO’s website and submitting it through MinLaw’s online enquiry form at https://eservices.mlaw.gov.sg/enquiry/.

  4. SAL will continue to maintain the confidentiality of the information within the Registry, and uphold the existing policy of releasing information only to the testator, the lawyers acting for the testator or the estate of the deceased testator, or the next-of-kin or beneficiary of the deceased testator, when an application to search for wills information is made.

  5. Upon the transfer, SAL will initially offer the same services as those presently offered by PTO. However, plans are afoot to provide more comprehensive wills and will-related services to members of the public in future.

  6. “The management of the Wills Registry is in line with SAL’s other statutory functions as a trusted custodian of confidential information and documents,” said Ms Serene Wee, Chief Executive of SAL. “Over time, we hope to add on other related functions to the Wills Registry, including a future repository for copies of wills”.

  7. Those who wish to deposit or update their wills information from 4 May 2020 can do so by visiting https://wills.sal.sg. For more information, the public can contact:
    • SAL at 6332 4388 or email wills@sal.org.sg
    • Ministry of Law at 1800-2255-529 or send in your enquiry at https://eservices.mlaw.gov.sg/enquiry/


Important dates to note:
• From now until 21 April 2020, you may continue to access the Wills Registry services through PTO’s “E-services” portal via https://eservices.mlaw.gov.sg/pto/welcome.xhtml.
• Between 22 April 2020 and 3 May 2020, please submit your duly completed Wills Search Form and the necessary supporting documents via Contact Us @ OneMinLaw (https://eservices.mlaw.gov.sg/enquiry/). Search fees will be waived during this period.
• From 4 May 2020, the Wills Registry services will be accessible through SAL’s online services via https://wills.sal.sg.

SINGAPORE ACADEMY OF LAW AND MINISTRY OF LAW
31 MARCH 2020

Last updated on 31 Mar 2020