Estate Planning

A valid, professionally drafted will is the starting point for any estate plan. Without a will, the Intestate Succession Act determines how your estate is distributed, which may not reflect your intentions. The attorney will ensure that your will is current, legally valid, and consistent with the other components of your estate plan.

For detailed information on the will drafting process, visit our will drafting page.

Estate duty is levied on the dutiable value of a deceased estate at twenty percent on the first thirty million rand and twenty-five percent on the balance. Careful planning can reduce the dutiable value of your estate through legitimate structures such as inter vivos trusts, loans to trusts, buy and sell agreements funded by life insurance, and the strategic use of the spousal exemption and abatement. The attorney you’re matched with advises on estate duty planning strategies for their circumstances, taking into account their full asset base and family situation.

An inter vivos trust is a trust established during the lifetime of the founder and is one of the most effective tools for estate planning, asset protection, and generational wealth transfer. Assets held in a properly structured inter vivos trust fall outside the founder’s estate for estate duty purposes once the growth in the trust exceeds the founder’s loan account. A trust also protects assets from personal creditor claims and provides a structure for managing family wealth across generations. They draft trust deeds, register trusts with the Master of the High Court, and advise trustees on their ongoing fiduciary obligations.

For more detail on trust structures and their uses, visit our trusts page.

An estate that is asset-rich but cash-poor can create serious difficulties at death. Estate duty, executor’s fees, conveyancing costs, and other administration expenses must be paid before assets can be distributed to heirs. Where the estate consists primarily of illiquid assets such as property, business interests, or shares in a private company, there may be insufficient cash to meet these costs without selling assets at a time and price that is not ideal. They advise clients on how to structure their estates to ensure adequate liquidity, including through life insurance, endowment policies, and the appropriate allocation of liquid assets.

Business owners face specific estate planning challenges that individual clients do not. The death of a business owner without a succession plan in place can result in the forced sale of a business, disputes between surviving business partners and the deceased’s estate, and the loss of value that can result from uncertainty and delay. The attorney will advise business owners on buy and sell agreements funded by life insurance, the use of trusts to hold business interests, and the legal steps required to ensure continuity of business operations following the death of a key person.

Where a client has a dependant with a disability or special needs, standard estate planning approaches may not be appropriate. Leaving assets directly to a person with a disability can affect their eligibility for government grants and support programmes, and may not provide the ongoing management and oversight that the dependant requires. They advise clients on special needs trusts and other structures designed to provide for dependants with special needs in a way that protects their long-term interests.

Blended families, where one or both spouses have children from previous relationships, require careful estate planning to ensure that the interests of all family members are properly addressed. Competing claims between a surviving spouse and children from a first marriage are among the most common sources of estate disputes. They advise clients in blended family situations on how to structure their wills, trusts, and beneficiary nominations to achieve a fair and workable outcome for everyone involved.