Wills and Administration of Estates

​​If you die without leaving a will or if you leave an invalid will, your heirs will inherit from you in terms of the Intestate Succession Act, Act 81 of 1987.

If person fails to make a Will, any personal assets and property left behind are distributed according to the Laws on Intestacy. In such an event the distribution may not be exactly what the deceased person would have wished to happen. Many people assume that when they die their total Estate passes to their spouse and/or children, as they would have wished, but this is not necessarily true in all cases and is dependent on other factors and personal wealth.

When you die without a will you also lose the opportunity of appointing an executor, (the person who administers your estate), a trustee (if a trust is created), and a guardian for your children.

There are many pitfalls when drafting a will – what is said, how it is said and whether the formalities of executing the will are complied with and for this reason, a DIY will is potentially disastrous and must be avoided.

If you have children a will is a MUST HAVE. As minor children cannot inherit cash or movable property and thus assets should be administered for them by means of a trust. In the absence of a trust, the money will be held by the Guardian’s Fund of the High Court. This will lead to your money being administered by officials with no connection to the family and cause endless frustration of the guardian in obtaining release of funds for the maintenance and benefit of the children.