STEP Warns A Lack Of Conversation Is Helping To Fuel Stepfamily Inheritance Disputes In Singapore

/ Trust & Estate Planning / By

STEP warns a lack of conversation is helping to fuel stepfamily inheritance disputes in Singapore

New research from STEP, the international professional body for trust and estate practitioners, finds that 43% of adults in Singapore do not have a will, and 81% say their family has no knowledge of their wishes for after they die. The findings point to a rising number of inheritance disputes in Singapore, with blended families identified as facing the highest risk of conflict.

Why disputes are rising

According to STEP’s practitioner survey, blended families — households involving stepchildren or children from previous relationships — are increasingly at the centre of inheritance conflict. Forty-one per cent of practitioners reported an increase in disputes within blended stepfamilies, and 71% identified more complex blended family structures as the leading cause of legal or planning challenges in business succession and inheritance matters.

The most common source of conflict, cited by 68% of practitioners, is friction between children or stepchildren and a surviving parent or stepparent. Unequal treatment between siblings followed at 37%, and direct conflict between children and stepchildren was cited by 27% of practitioners.

In response, trust and estate practitioners are increasingly offering mediation services alongside legal advice, aiming to help families resolve disputes before they escalate into lengthy, costly litigation that can permanently damage relationships.

The state of will-making in Singapore

Separate consumer research commissioned by STEP, surveying adults aged 21 and above in Singapore, paints a picture of widespread underpreparation:

  • 43% of adults surveyed do not have a will — including 47% of women, compared with 39% of men.
  • 81% say their family is unaware of their wishes for after their death.
  • Only 18% have told loved ones about their will and where to find it.
  • 48% of business owners surveyed do not have a will.
  • 15% have a will but haven’t updated it in over five years.
  • 12% of respondents expect to seek advice on wills or inheritance disputes within the next 18 months.

Why people are avoiding it

Among those without a will, 16% believe they don’t need one, assuming their assets will automatically pass to immediate family. A smaller share cite family conflict directly as the reason to avoid the topic: 4% say they haven’t made a will because they worry it will cause family arguments, and 13% worry about being left out of an inheritance altogether.

The data also suggests this isn’t a purely hypothetical concern — 1 in 10 respondents has already had a falling-out with family members over money or inheritance, and 11% say they would definitely dispute a will if they were unfairly excluded from it.

Groups most likely to be unprepared

  • Divorced individuals are the least likely to have a will, with 54% reporting they have none. Notably, only 16% of respondents were aware that marriage automatically revokes an existing will in Singapore — meaning an estimated 84% are not aware of this rule.
  • Parents are a particular gap area: 34% of parents with children under 18 do not have a will, rising to 48% among those whose children are 18 or older. Among parents with stepchildren, 21% have no will. Of parents with minor children who do have a will, only 18% have named guardians for their children in it.
  • Homeowners and higher-net-worth individuals are not exempt: 37% of homeowners surveyed have no will, along with 28% of those with assets of S$865,000 or more, and 22% of those with assets exceeding S$1.73 million.

The bottom line

STEP’s research points to a gap between the scale of unaddressed estate planning in Singapore and the growing complexity of modern family structures — a combination its practitioners say is directly fuelling more frequent and more difficult inheritance disputes, particularly within blended families.

Source: STEP Barometer 2026: Global Trends in Family Wealth and Succession Planning, and independent consumer research commissioned by STEP.

Legal Analysis: Does Marriage Really Revoke Your Will in Singapore?

Written for RLC Law Corporation by [Attorney Name], [credentials/practice area]
Direct-answer lead
Yes. Under Section 13 of Singapore’s Wills Act, a valid will is automatically revoked the moment you marry — unless the will was specifically written “in contemplation of” that marriage. STEP’s 2026 research found that 84% of adults surveyed in Singapore were unaware of this rule, making it one of the most consequential gaps in public understanding of estate planning.

The rationale behind Section 13 is protective in intent: the law assumes that marriage fundamentally changes a person’s obligations to their family, and that a will drafted before marriage may no longer reflect what the testator would actually want once they have a spouse to provide for.

Rather than leaving that judgment to be argued after death — with courts left to speculate about what someone would have wanted based on a will they never got around to updating — the Act simply treats the earlier will as void the moment the marriage takes place. This spares the family from a drawn-out, uncertain legal dispute over intentions that can no longer be confirmed, and ensures a spouse isn’t unintentionally left out simply because paperwork lagged behind a major life change.

Section 13(2) provides a narrow exception: if a will is made “in contemplation of” a specific, intended marriage, and clearly states that intention, it survives that marriage. This is sometimes used by couples who draft a will shortly before their wedding to lock in their intended arrangement.

However, this exception is deliberately narrow. It generally needs to reference the specific marriage the testator intends to enter, not marriage in general. A will that doesn’t explicitly address this — even one drafted just weeks before a wedding — will typically still be revoked automatically if it wasn’t drafted with that specific legal language in mind. This is not a provision to rely on without a lawyer’s involvement.

Marriage doesn’t just create a new legal relationship — it can silently erase an existing will. Anyone who marries, or remarries, after already having a will in place should treat reviewing that will as a required step of the marriage itself, not an optional one.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified wills and probate lawyer to review how your specific circumstances are affected.