Leaving a legacy matters to most people. For British expats in Singapore, doing so cleanly requires the UK and Singapore pictures to be joined up — wills that work in both jurisdictions, trust structures reviewed against the post-April 2025 rules, beneficiary nominations that match your intent, and inheritance tax positioning under the new Long-Term Resident framework.
Done well, estate planning is considered, structural work that gives your family clarity at the worst possible moment. Done badly, it leaves them with avoidable tax, legal cost, and uncertainty about what was intended. Obsidian leads the planning and works alongside specialist solicitors for the trust drafting and probate work.
Most British expats in Singapore benefit from two wills: a UK will dealing with UK-situated assets and any UK-based residual estate, and a Singapore will dealing with Singapore-situated assets. Drafted carefully, the two co-exist; drafted carelessly, one can revoke the other. A specialist review of any existing will — particularly anything drafted around old non-dom assumptions — is the right first step.
Alongside the wills sit Lasting Powers of Attorney. UK LPAs and the Singapore equivalent under the Mental Capacity Act are independent — each covers decisions in its own jurisdiction — and most British expats benefit from having both.
Trust planning has changed materially since April 2025. New excluded property trusts established by a Long-Term Resident settlor no longer offer the UK IHT shielding they once did. Pre-April 2025 trusts retain meaningful protection in many cases — but the rules around them have changed in subtle ways and existing structures warrant a specialist review.
Where trusts still add real value is in succession planning, asset protection, and structured distribution to beneficiaries. Trusts can also play an important role in lifetime gifting strategies and in holding life cover outside the estate. They are no longer the IHT silver bullet they once were, but they remain one of the most flexible tools in the estate-planning toolkit when used in the right place.
Inheritance Tax sits at the center of most British expat estate planning. The full mechanics — the Long-Term Resident test, the tail period after departure, the FIG regime, and the planning levers that still work under the new rules — are covered in depth at /uk-inheritance-tax-british-expats-singapore. From an estate-planning perspective, three levers do most of the work:
Lifetime gifting - The UK seven-year rule for potentially exempt transfers (PET’s) survives the 2025 reforms. For LTRs with material IHT exposure, structured lifetime gifting is among the most effective tools — and the earlier it starts, the more effective it is.
Whole-of-life cover written in trust - Cover that does not solve the IHT problem but pays the bill outside the estate, providing liquidity so beneficiaries do not have to sell illiquid assets to settle the tax.
Trusts and non-UK-situated assets - Pre-April 2025 trusts retain meaningful IHT protection in many cases, and certain post-April 2025 structures (Discounted Gift Trusts among them) remain effective planning tools. For non-LTRs, holding wealth in non-UK-situated assets, rather than UK pensions or UK securities, is one of the most effective ways to keep the estate outside UK IHT scope.
Pensions, life policies, and certain other arrangements pass by nomination rather than by will. Out-of-date nominations — from a former employer’s plan, from before a marriage or divorce, or from before a child was born — are one of the most common and most easily corrected sources of estate-planning error. A nomination review is one of the quickest pieces of useful work we do.
Obsidian Financial Planning is a trading name of Sam Barrie, who is an Appointed Representative of Synergy Financial Advisers Ltd (UEN 201217738K), licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The information on this page is general in nature, reflects rules and HMRC guidance current at the time of publication, and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. UK tax law in this area continues to evolve and personal circumstances vary; you should not act on any of the above without taking specific advice on your situation. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change.
