How Much Does It Cost To Hold A Funeral Service In Singapore?

Most of us live in constant pursuit of happiness. Be it keeping up with the latest fashion and iPhone, or retiring early with a beautiful home fully paid, we seem to put retirement as our finishing line.

But have we ever wondered what comes after retirement?

While financial planning is important for the most part of our lives, it is equally important to look at the costs of death (“touch wood!”)

A Step-by-Step Guide to Funeral Services in Singapore

We compiled a step-by-step guide, to what comes after life and the costs involved for the wake and funeral.

• Preparation of your untimely demise
• Step-by-step guide: What to do when someone passes away?
• Checklist of the decisions to make for the wake and funeral
• The ultimate comparison: Cost of funeral
• Rates for placing an obituary in Singapore
• Compilation of contacts of funeral directors in Singapore

 Preparation for Your Untimely Demise

While death is a taboo subject for many, we are starting to realise that planning our funeral services beforehand can help ease the load on your family members.

The benefits of being open and transparent with your family member about your funeral include:

• Less emotional stress for your loved ones after your passing since everything is planned
• Reduces unnecessary disputes and arguments amongst your family pertaining to decisions for the funeral
• Allows you to plan financially for your own funeral effectively

Here are 5 steps that you can arrange for before death:

1. Deciding on a Funeral Director
2. Deciding on the details of the wake
3. Making a will
4. Making CPF nomination
5. A discussion with your direct family members

1. Deciding on a Funeral Director

A Funeral Director is a professional that helps take care of your funeral arrangements. He will be the go-to guy upon your passing if arrangements have been made.

We have attached a list of Funeral Directors in Singapore below for your convenience.

2. Deciding on the Details of the Wake

Once you have decided on the Funeral Director, it is good to make known the essential information to him to better facilitate the planning process of the funeral.

Some useful information will be the budget which you are looking at, your religion, your favourite flowers, casket and also other possible information. By having these details tied down prior to death can help ease the stress on your family. Family members usually have a short period of time to plan and prepare for the funeral, while dealing with the loss of their loved one.

Details such as the venue of the wake, photo-taking of the funeral photo and clothes you want to be wearing should be settled too.

3. Making a Will

A will is an official arrangement for someone to receive part or all of your money and property after your passing.

In order for a will to be valid, here are some pointers to note:

• The will must be made written
• The person who wrote the will must be at least 21 years old
• The person who wrote the will must sign at the bottom of the will
• 2 or more person must witness the person signing the will and must also sign to indicate that they have witnessed it
• The witnesses cannot be beneficiaries of the will or spouses of the beneficiaries

Writing a valid will can get quite complicated so we can consider hiring a professional like a lawyer to take care of it. OCBC and MoneyOwl are some platforms that we may approach to get our will done.

If you’re opting for a lawyer to draft your will for you will range from $200 to $500 depending on its complexity.

4. Making a CPF Nomination

A CPF nomination allows us to specify who will benefit from their CPF savings and the amount our beneficiaries receive upon our demise. As CPF savings are not covered under our will, it is important to make a CPF nomination.

If there’s no CPF nomination made, the CPF savings will be transferred to the Public Trustee’s Office and distributed according to the rules in the Intestate Succession Act. And that is super leh chey (troublesome)!

5. Have a Discussion With Your Direct Family Members

Once all the above are in place, it is time for us to have an open discussion with our family members on our liabilities if any and also assets.

Here is some helpful information to tie down:

• Make known to them where they can find the necessary documentation to locate your assets upon your passing
  Imagine having a will so well hidden that no one can ever find – that totally defeats the purpose of having a will! 
• Decide who in the family will be in charge of ensuring that all your wishes are carried out accordingly – this includes your funeral home
• Some may even go to the extent of having a contact list of who to be informed of your passing should it happen

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Step-by-Step Guide: What To Do When Someone Passes Away

Depending on the location of the death, is it in the hospital, at home, or overseas, each has its set of necessary steps to take.

Steps to take when death occurs in the hospital/ home

• Step 1: Obtain Certificate of Cause of Death (CCOD) in the hospital
  If the doctor at the hospital can certify the cause of death and the cause is natural, the doctor will fill up the Certificate of Cause of Death (CCOD).
• Step 1: Obtain Certificate of Cause of Death (CCOD) at home
  Contact the doctor or any neighbourhood doctor that is willing to take a house call to certify the death.

The rest of the steps are similar

• If the cause of death unknown
  If the doctor is unable to certify the cause of death, call the police to have the body sent to [email protected] (Singapore General Hospital, Block 9)
• Step 2: Contact a funeral director
  If there is already one assigned, simply contact the relevant Funeral Director. If not, the family will need to engage one.
  The funeral director will collect the body, send the body for embalming and deliver to the location of the wake.
• Step 3: Register the death
  The family can register the death at any Police station or the Registry of Births and Deaths.

Additional information:

[email protected] operating hours:
Monday to Friday: 8:00am – 4:30pm
Saturday, Sunday, and Public Holidays: 8:00am – 12:30pm

Things to bring to [email protected]:

• All medical documents related to the deceased
• All medicine consumed by the deceased
• NRIC or Passport or Birth Certificate or FIN card of deceased.

Registry of Births and Deaths:
3rd floor, ICA Building
10 Kallang Road S(208718)
Tel: 6391 6100
Working hours: 8:00am – 5:00pm (Monday – Friday), 8:00am – 1:00pm (Saturday)

Things to bring to Registry of Births and Death/ Police Station:

• Certificate of Cause of Death (CCOD)
• NRIC or Passport or Birth Certificate or FIN card of deceased.

Steps to take when death occurs overseas

• Step 1: Register with the foreign authorities
• Step 2: Application for a coffin (import) permit. A funeral director will know the steps to this.
• Registering the death will be the same as the above.

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Checklist of the Decisions To Make For the Wake and Funeral

Find the checklist, we found a really comprehensive one on Nirvana Columbarium:

General Preparations

• Prepare a contact list including names and phone numbers of persons you wish to have notified of your death or a medical emergency.
• Decide on the person who will be responsible to ensure that your wishes are carried out.
• Assemble information for the obituary, including biographical details and where the obituary should appear.
• Select a funeral home.

Funeral Home Services

• State, in writing, the type of disposition you would like i.e. burial or cremation

For Burial

• Select the burial plot location.
• Select burial vault.
• Choose preferred casket type i.e. made of wood, metal, or composite materials.
• Choose preferred burial garments.

For Cremation

• Choose preferred cremation casket/container type i.e. made of wood, metal, or composite materials.
• Select the cremation urn type.
• Decide what to do with the ashes.
• Select the cremation plot location.
• Choose the type of service i.e. religious, celebration of life, memorial service.
• Choose family viewing or visitation.
• Choose a floral arrangement i.e. type, colour.
• Select a photograph to be displayed.
• Select music and hymns.
• Select pallbearers.
• Make arrangements for transportation.

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The Ultimate Comparison: Funeral Package Price List

As various religions go through a different type of ritual and require different types of religious services, it is important to compare them separately for better comparison.

How much does a Buddhist Funeral Package cost in Singapore?

How much does a Taoist Funeral Package cost in Singapore?

How much does a Christian Funeral Package cost in Singapore?

How much does a Catholic Funeral Package cost in Singapore?

How much does a Soka Funeral Package cost in Singapore?

How much does a Non-Religious/ Freethinker Funeral Package cost in Singapore?

How much does a Same Day Cremation Funeral Package cost in Singapore?

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Rates for Placing an Obituary in Singapore

Placing an obituary on a local publication is a traditional way to inform the public of the passing of somebody. This is in hope of getting the attention of someone who might have lost contact with the deceased.

Here are the rates for placing an obituary in any of the local publication:

Note: a minimum of 5cm x 2 col for Chinese publications and 3cm x 1 col for English/Malay publications is required.

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Compilation of Contacts of Funeral Directors in Singapore

Here’s the list of Funeral Directors in Singapore and their contacts for your convenience:

Source: National Environment Agency

If you have the time, it would be great to read up on reviews before deciding on one.

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