Wills and Estate Planning
Take intentional steps to ensure that you have your own financial profile independent from your spouse’s. To achieve this, ensure that you have a well-managed bank account in your own name and at least one credit facility in your name,
To safeguard the trust assets against the effects of inflation, it will be necessary for the trustees to assume some investment risk, and it is important that the trustees have a sound understanding of how investments work in order to
If immovable property in your estate is transferred to an heir – whether by testate or intestate succession - your estate will be required to pay the transfer costs, being the attorney’s conveyancing fees, in accordance with a sliding scale
Generally speaking, it is the spouse or close family member of the patient who brings the application but, in circumstances where the applicant is not the next of kin, the application will need to include reasons as to why that
In order to bring an application for administrator, it must be proved that the mentally incapacitated person meets the criteria set out by the Mental Health Care Act in terms of diagnosis and medical evidence.
The general principle of the accrual system is that each spouse is entitled to take out the asset value that he/she brought into the marriage, and whatever is built together during the subsistence of the marriage is shared equally. So,
If the Will is found to be invalid, then the deceased’s estate must be wound up in terms of the laws of intestate succession. In such an instance, the Master will appoint an Executor Dative to the deceased estate.
Executor’s fees are regulated by statute and are set at a maximum of 3.5% (plus VAT) on the value of the gross assets in your estate plus 6% of income accrued and collected after your death. However, in many instances,
Upon your death, your testamentary trust will come into formation and the assets identified in your will must be transferred to the trust. Your nominated trustees must apply to the Master of the High Court for letters of authority which
When retiring from a retirement fund, investors are required to use at least two-thirds of the fund proceeds to purchase an annuity. There are many factors that need to be taken into account when choosing the most appropriate annuity for
