Freedom of testation and our Constitution A will drafted in 1902 created a fideicommissum for three generations. The first generation of heirs included the testator’s children, both sons and daughters. However, the fiduciaries and eventual fideicommissaries were limited to the male descendants in each generation from the second generation. In King v De Jager; 2021… Continue Reading
Removing an executor from office
The Master of the High Court (‘the Master’) appoints someone called an ‘executor’ to administer a deceased estate where the estate is worth R250,000 or more. The Master issues what are called ‘Letters of Executorship’ in favour of the executor. In a smaller estate the Master normally dispenses with the appointment of an executor and… Continue Reading
Does the estate of a deceased grandparent have an obligation to support a grandchild?
Phillipa Susan van Zyl NO v Getz (548/19) [2020] ZASCA 84 The mother of a child asked the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) for a ruling obliging the estate of a grandparent of her child to maintain the child. Both parents were alive. The mother could not afford to maintain the child and the father… Continue Reading
Unmarried ‘survivor’ not entitled to maintenance from the estate of her deceased partner
In the case of Richard Gordon Volks NO v Ethel Robinson and Others, the Constitutional Court heard an application concerning a woman who wanted to be paid maintenance from her unmarried partner’s estate. Mrs Robinson was in a permanent heterosexual life partnership with Mr Shandling from 1985 until his death in 2001. They did not… Continue Reading
Administration of a deceased estate
We specialise in the winding up of deceased estates. The tariff laid down by the Administration of Estates Act is 3.5% (plus VAT) of the gross value of the estate and 6% (plus VAT) of the income collected after the date of death. We can always agree on a reduced fee. When someone dies, his… Continue Reading
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