In layman's practical terms
Co-Owner
Should your husband pass away, flat will be passed to surviving co-owner due to right of survivorship
Occupier
You are just an occupier
upon the death of the owner, the occupier will be evicted and needs a court case to obtain the flat under equity (eg: Hubby / Wife case )
I am not sure about Syariah vs Civil law
I was also facing a similar situation and the main question above my head was this:
In the event of my death, i would like my wife / kids to have a roof over their heads with a minimum of fuss.
I intend to convert my wife's occupier status to co-owner status because the last thing i want is for her to worry about housing issues during such a period. [ ab experienced HDB officer did tell me that it is advisable to do this before i collect my keys, as there is a significant difference in fees paid before and after key collection ]
HOWEVER, one thing i am not clear is this
I understand the issue of jus accresandi. What i am unclear is that
when i was facing a rookie HDB officer, she kept on insisting that whether co-owner or occupier, flat will get repossessed by HDB if i pass away before the child reaches the age of majority. Her reasoning is that both my wife ( PR ) + kid ( if before age of majority ) will not form a family nucleus.If after age of majority, she said that it is still SUBJECT TO HDB to determine if wife and child eligible to stay in flat??? [
THIS NEEDS CLARIFICATION ]
The information threadstarter needs is here:
HDB InfoWEB: Types of Transfers : Living in HDB flats : Change Owners or Occupiers
But IMO, it is better for both hubby+wife to be co-owners.
If not co-owner, it means the occupier, if wife, will need to go through some legal mumbo jumbo to ensure the flat is retained in the event of death of the flat owner.
Imaging you are grieving for your loss ( touch wood ), and you receive a letter from HDB saying that you are not eligible to retain the flat.