What happens if a beneficiary dies before the testator?

What the Law Says

The Wills Act governs what happens when a beneficiary dies before the person who made the will (the testator). Section 26 provides a limited exception to the general rule that such gifts lapse.

Under Singapore law, if a beneficiary named in a will dies before the testator, the gift to that person generally 'lapses' — meaning it no longer takes effect and does not pass to the beneficiary’s own heirs or estate.

However, section 26 of the Wills Act creates an exception: if the deceased beneficiary was a child or other issue of the testator, and they left children (issue) who are alive at the testator’s death, then the gift does not lapse. Instead, it passes to those surviving issue — but only if the deceased beneficiary died within 30 days after the testator’s death *or* before the testator. Wait — correction: s. 26 applies only when the beneficiary dies *before* the testator, and leaves issue who survive the testator.

This is known as the 'anti-lapse' rule — but it applies narrowly: only to beneficiaries who are the testator’s issue (e.g., children, grandchildren), and only if those beneficiaries themselves have living descendants (issue) at the time of the testator’s death.

Statutory Text

Where a will contains a devise or bequest to a child or other issue of the testator, and the devisee or legatee dies before the testator, leaving issue who survive the testator, the devise or bequest shall not lapse, but shall take effect as if the devisee or legatee had survived the testator and had then died intestate.

— Wills Act, s. 26 — Effect of devise or bequest to issue who predeceases testator

What to Do

Sources