Estate planning is vitally important for securing the future wellbeing of your family. It is always better to plan today, for your family’s tomorrow. To assist you, our planning specialists provide estate planning and fiduciary services regarding family trusts and deceased estates, which offers financial security to dependants and family members after death. Estate planning services include advice on planning, taxation, independent trusteeships, trust fiduciary services, drafting of related planning documentation and agreements. This way, you can rest assured that your family will be well taken care of after you are gone.
Our firm specialises in the administration of deceased estates. When a loved one passes away, it is a difficult time for those left behind, and having to attend to the winding up of the deceased’s estate can be overwhelming to the family of the deceased, especially if they are not familiar with the process involved in the administration thereof.
Administering a deceased’s estate can be a complex and tedious process, which can take between 8 months and several years to finalise, and which can lead to great frustration to all parties concerned.
Therefore, it is important to ensure that a Will is in place and that an experienced Executor is appointed, who is familiar with the process and who can ease the family’s burden by administrating the estate in an efficient and responsible manner. Contact us to assist you with the winding up of a deceased estate.
If you die without having made a valid will, it will mean you have passed away ‘intestate’. Your estate will then dissolve according to the Intestate Succession Act, 1978. This will result in your estate being divided amongst your surviving spouse, children, siblings or parents according to a set formula and not according to what you might have wished.
Beneficiaries you may never have wished to inherit from you, might benefit more than those you truly care for. In some cases, the most important people in your life might be left with no legal entitlement to your estate or assets.
If you die ‘intestate’, it can take a long time to officially appoint an executor and the appointed executor might not have been your first choice. Business continuity is impossible until an executor is appointed, resulting in a loss of income.
Besides the extended process, income loss, and other extra, unnecessary costs, an ‘intestate’ death means that no trust can be set up for minor beneficiaries and their inheritance will be sold for cash and deposited into the Guardians Fund.
Lastly, in addition to the grief your loved ones experience after your passing, not having left a will with clear instructions of your wishes, ultimately results in conflict and disputes that could have been avoided.
Put pen to paper and safeguard your loved ones’ future with our complimentary will drafting services. Our dedicated professionals are ready to assist you in creating or updating your will, all at absolutely no cost.
We provide specialised curatorship services, with professionals appointed as curator bonis by the High Court of South Africa to manage the financial affairs of other persons. Our curatorship services include management of the affairs of the person under curatorship, including the management of curatorship accounts, finances and income tax returns.
