Debated in Parliament on 5 Nov 2019.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Manpower (a) in each of the last five years, how many balance sums in MediSave accounts have been returned to the family members of the account holders upon their death, with and without nominations respectively; (b) how many balance sums are left unclaimed; and (c) what has been the average amount per deceased member for each of these unclaimed sums.
Over the past five years, close to 80% of unused CPF monies were distributed by CPF Board to beneficiaries according to deceased members’ nominations. The monies include balances in their Ordinary, MediSave, Special and Retirement Accounts.
The unused monies of members who did not make nominations are transferred to the Public Trustee's Office (PTO) for distribution to the deceased’s next-of-kin in accordance with intestacy and Muslim inheritance laws. This was explained in MinLaw’s oral response on 4 November 2019 to Assoc Prof Daniel Goh. PTO reported that 88% of un-nominated CPF monies were distributed to next-of-kin in the last five years.
In other words, about 98% of all unused CPF monies belonging to deceased members were eventually distributed by CPF Board and PTO in the last five years. Next-of-kin can approach PTO at any time to submit their claims on the unclaimed monies. There is no time limit for the application.
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