Guardianship vs Trusteeship for Children in a Will

A guardian is responsible for your child’s day-to-day care and welfare if you pass away before your child turns 21. A trustee, if you have appointed one in your Will, manages any assets you leave to your child until they are old enough to receive them.

If you have a child with special needs, it is recommended that you speak to SNTC to go through additional considerations.

Guardianship in a Will

Guardianship gives a person the legal responsibility to care for the welfare of a child that is below 21 years of age, including living arrangements, education, and day-to-day care. Guardian appointments are only for minors, that is child who is below 21 years old. You cannot appoint a guardian for a child who is already 21 or older.

By default, a child’s parents are their natural guardian. A parent may also appoint guardian in their Will to care for the child should the parent dies (i.e. a testamentary guardian).

Under "Appoint People" page, you can select the option for the named guardian either "To act jointly with other parent" or "To act only if no parents survives".

Trusteeship in a Will

In your Will, the managing of assets you leave to a minor beneficiary (e.g. your underage child) is a separate matter. You can name someone else (not necessarily the guardian) to hold on trust and manage those assets. You can name the executor, the guardian, or even configure a detailed Testamentary Trust say to specify what to payout over time. Whoever is named to manage these assets have to work with the guardian for the benefit of the child.

Under the "Select Clauses" page, you can select either the Executor or the Guardian to hold on trust and manage all assets given to minor Beneficiaries.

For assets not covered by the Will, such as those received as gifts (e.g. red packets), through intestacy, or from joint ownership, these may still end up being managed by the child’s guardian. If so, the guardian’s powers are limited under the Guardianship of Infants Act as they generally cannot sell property or spend more than $100 per month from income without court approval.

Special Needs Children

You can appoint Guardian in your Will for your child, including child with special needs. However, a guardian’s appointment ceases once the child reaches 21, even if the child lacks mental capacity to make decision. Guardianship is only meant for children below 21.

For someone to make decisions for an adult child with special needs (like a guardian to a child), this can only be done by applying for deputyship, which is not part of the scope of a Will.

When the child is between age 18-21, you can consider applying for deputy through the Assisted Deputyship Application Programme which can be simpler and cheaper.

Beyond just a Will and/or Trust for your special needs child, it is recommended that you speak to SNTC to go through the various considerations as they are the experts in this area and there might also be other things that need to be put in place. For example, if you have setup an SNTC Trust, you can allocate assets into it upon your death via a Will.