Make tough family talks simple & practical

Sudden death of her uncle prompted her to talk about legacy planning with her mum. Her approach?

- By JEREMY THESEIRA

For Ms Seline Cai, 40, the sudden death of her uncle in April 2022 was a difficult lesson on the need for legacy planning. "We didn't know what he wanted, or what his plans were," says Ms Cai, a principal industry training officer. "We tried asking him, but he was in a daze and couldn't speak."

Critical-stage heart disease had left her 74-year-old uncle breathless and unable to speak. He died the day he was hospitalized. Estranged from his son and having lived alone, Ms Cai stepped in to help his Indonesian wife manage his affairs. His wife arrived in Singapore two days after his death.

The process took seven months. He left no will to guide Ms Cai on handling his three-room Housing Board (HDB) flat. Only a Central Provident Fund (CPF) nomination had been made in 2019, to state how his CPF savings should be distributed.

"There were just a lot of little things that needed to be handled," Ms Cai says. "It was a really tough period of time."

Spurred by calamity