Under the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Act, CPF monies do not form part of a deceased member's estate and are not covered by a will ("Hassle to claim late grandma's CPF money" by Ms Chan Jee May; Nov 30).

CPF members who wish to specify who will receive their CPF monies, and how much each nominee should receive upon their demise, can make a CPF nomination.

Where CPF members have not made a nomination, their CPF monies will be passed to the public trustee for distribution under the intestacy/ inheritance laws of Singapore.

As Ms Chan's grandmother had not made a nomination for her CPF monies, the CPF Board forwarded the monies to the Public Trustee's Office (PTO), which serves as the administrator of un-nominated CPF monies.

The PTO is required to verify that a claimant is recognised as a beneficiary under the law, in order to distribute un-nominated CPF monies.

As part of the verification process, the claimant is required to provide supporting documentation, such as birth and marriage certificates.

In this specific case, as the required documents are not available, the claimant was advised to arrange for her grandmother's brother to make a statutory declaration on the relationship.

This can be done either with a lawyer or at the PTO's premises.

Once the statutory declaration has been made, the PTO will then assess the claim, based on the information provided in the statutory declaration.

The CPF Board and PTO have contacted Ms Chan to clarify the process and will provide the necessary assistance to resolve the matter.

Praveen Randhawa (Ms)
Director
Corporate Communications Ministry of Law

Irene Kang (Ms)
Group Director of Communications
Central Provident Fund Board