PART 7 | Saving of distribution of Muslim estate by will |
| 110. Nothing in this Act is to be held to prevent any Muslim person directing by his or her will that his or her estate and effects must be distributed according to the Muslim law. |
| Disposition by will, etc., to be in accordance with Muslim law |
| 111.—(1) Despite anything in the provisions of the English law or in any other written law, no Muslim domiciled in Singapore may, after 1 July 1968, dispose of his or her property by will except in accordance with the provisions of and subject to the restrictions imposed by the school of Muslim law professed by him or her. [33/2017] (2) Nothing in this section affects —| (a) | the provisions of the Wills Act 1838, other than section 3 thereof; | | (b) | the provisions of the Insurance Act 1966; | | (c) | the provisions of the Probate and Administration Act 1934; or | | (d) | the will of a Muslim dying before 1 July 1968. [33/2017] |
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| Distribution of Muslim estate to be according to Muslim law |
112.—(1) In the case of any Muslim person domiciled in Singapore dying intestate, the estate and effects must be distributed according to the Muslim law as modified, where applicable, by Malay custom.| (2) This section applies in cases where a person dies partly intestate as well as in cases where he or she dies wholly intestate. |
| (3) In the case of a Malay dying intestate, the court may make an order for the division of the harta sepencarian or jointly acquired property in such proportions as to the court seems fit. |
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| Application for probate and letters of administration |
| 113. In all applications for probate or letters of administration the affidavit supporting the application must, in the case of a deceased Muslim, state the school of law (Mazhab) which the deceased professed in addition to the particulars required by any other written law. |
114.—(1) In deciding questions of succession and inheritance in the Muslim law, the court is at liberty to accept as proof of the Muslim law any definite statement on the Muslim law made in all or any of the following books:| (a) | The English translation of the Quaran, by A. Yusuf Ali or Marmaduke Pickthall; | | (b) | Mohammedan Law, by Syed Ameer Ali; | | (c) | Minhaj et Talibin by Nawawi, translated by E. C. Howard from the French translation of Van den Berg; | | (d) | Digest of Moohummudan Law, by Neil B. E. Baillie; | | (e) | Anglo-Muhammadan Law, by Sir Roland Knyvet Wilson, 6th Edition Revised by A. Yusuf Ali; | | (f) | Outlines of Muhammadan Law, by A. A. Fyzee; | | (g) | Muhammadan Law, by F. B. Tyabji. |
| (2) The Minister may on the advice of the Majlis by notification in the Gazette vary or add to the list of books set out in subsection (1). |
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115.—(1) If, in the course of any proceedings relating to the administration or distribution of the estate of a deceased person whose estate is to be distributed according to the Muslim law, any court or authority is under the duty of determining the persons entitled to share in such estate or the shares to which such persons are respectively entitled, the Syariah Court may, on a request by the court or authority or on the application of any person claiming to be a beneficiary and on payment of the prescribed fee, certify upon any set of facts found by such court or authority or on any hypothetical set of facts its opinion as to the persons who are, assuming such facts, whether as found or hypothetical, entitled to share in such estate and as to the shares to which they are respectively entitled.| (2) The Syariah Court may, before certifying its opinion, require to hear the parties on any question of law, but is not to hear evidence or make findings on any question of fact. |
| (3) In any case of special difficulty, the Syariah Court may refer the question to the Legal Committee for its opinion and is, if such opinion be given, to certify in accordance therewith. |
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| Administration of estate of Muslim dying intestate |
| 116.—(1) In granting letters of administration to the estate of a Muslim who dies intestate, the court may if it thinks fit grant letters of administration to any next‑of‑kin of the Muslim or any other person entitled to a share in the estate under the Muslim law. [33/2017] | (2) This section does not affect the power given to the court by section 18 of the Probate and Administration Act 1934. [33/2017] |
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| 117. [Repealed by Act 33 of 2017] |
| 118. Subject to section 111, Muslim married women may, with or without the concurrence of their husbands, by will dispose of their own property. |
119.—(1) All the property belonging to a woman on her marriage, whether movable or immovable and however acquired, after marriage to a Muslim husband continues, in the absence of special written contract to the contrary, to be her own property.| (2) She may dispose of the same by deed or otherwise, with or without the concurrence of her husband. |
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| Property of Muslim married woman |
120.—(1) The following are deemed to be the property of a Muslim married woman:| (a) | wages and earnings acquired or gained by her during marriage in any employment, occupation or trade carried on by her and not by her husband; | | (b) | any money or other property acquired by her during marriage through the exercise of any skill or by way of inheritance, legacy, gift, purchase or otherwise; | | (c) | all savings from, and investments of, such wages, earnings and property. |
| (2) Her receipt alone is a good discharge for such wages, earnings and property. |
| (3) She may dispose of the same by deed or otherwise and without the concurrence of her husband. |
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| Right to sue and liability to be sued |
121. A Muslim married woman —| (a) | may maintain a suit in her own name for the recovery of property of any description which is her own property; | | (b) | has in her own name the same remedies, both civil and criminal, against all persons for the protection and security of such property as if she were unmarried; and | | (c) | is liable to such suits, processes and orders in respect of such property as she would be liable to if she were unmarried. |
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| Liability on her own contract |
| 122.—(1) If a Muslim married woman possesses property, and if any person enters into a contract with her with reference to such property or on the faith that her obligation arising out of the contract will be satisfied out of her own property, that person is entitled to sue her and to the extent of her own property to recover against her whatever the person might have recovered in such suit if she had been unmarried at the date of the contract and remained unmarried at the execution or enforcement of the decree. [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] | (2) The husband is not, in the absence of special stipulations whereby he has made himself responsible as surety, guarantor, joint contractor or otherwise, liable to be sued on such contract. |
| (3) Nothing in this section annuls or abridges the liability of a Muslim husband for debts contracted by his wife’s agency, express or implied. |
| (4) Such liability is to be measured according to the law for the time being in force in Singapore. |
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| 123. A Muslim husband is not by reason only of his marriage liable for the debt of his wife contracted before marriage, but the wife is liable to be sued for and is to the extent of her own property liable to satisfy such debt as if she were unmarried. |
| Effect of marriage on property |
| 124. No Muslim person, by any marriage contracted in accordance with the provisions of the Muslim law, acquires any interest in the property of the person whom he or she marries or becomes incapable of doing any act in respect of his or her own property which he or she could have done if unmarried. |
| 125. [Repealed by Act 33 of 2017] |
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