Written Answer by Minister for Manpower Mrs Josephine Teo to PQ on CPF Nomination scheme
NOTICE PAPER NO. 221 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON 1 February 2021
QUESTION NO. 58 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER TO QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER NOT ANSWERED BY END OF QUESTION TIME
MP: Ms Hany Soh
To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) out of the total number of Singaporeans who maintain a CPF account, how many of them have opted for the CPF Nomination Scheme and out of which, how many have made their nominations online; and (b) upon the demise of a CPF member, how long does it take for CPF Board to be alerted and thereafter process the payout to those who have made a nomination, and for those cases where no nomination is made.
Answer:
- Today, more than two in five CPF members have made a nomination. Among those aged 65 and above, three in four members have done so. The online nomination service was rolled out last year to make this process even more convenient for members. Since then, about half of nominations have been made online.
- CPF Board is notified by the Registry of Births & Deaths after the death of a member is registered, and typically distributes nominated CPF monies within a month of notification. For un-nominated CPF monies, CPF Board will pass the monies to the Public Trustee’s Office (PTO) within three weeks of notification of the member’s passing after accounting for transactions such as MediSave deductions for hospital bills. The PTO will trace and search for the eligible beneficiaries under the law and charges administrative fees for disbursement. Eligible beneficiaries may come forward at any time to make their claims.
- Upon the submission of the complete set of documents and information by the applicant, PTO usually disburses the un-nominated CPF monies within four weeks.
- To allow their CPF monies to be distributed to preferred beneficiaries faster and without incurring fees, we encourage all members to make their CPF nominations and update it as their life circumstances change.
- We will continue to regularly review our CPF policies to ensure they better meet members’ needs.