Wills and Estate Planning
A civil marriage in terms of the Marriage Act of 1961 can only be entered into between a man and a woman and is the most common form of marriage in South Africa. When entering into a civil marriage, in
If you have a loved one who is mentally and/or physically incapable of managing his affairs, our common law makes it possible to approach the High Court for the appointment of a Curator Bonis, although keep in mind that the
During the course of your first meeting, your advisor should provide you with a disclosure letter that, amongst other things, sets out exactly how she will earn her fees and what you can expect in terms of costs going forward.
A single-income family naturally faces greater risk when it comes to job loss or retrenchment, and it is important to put plans in place to mitigate the risk as much as possible. An emergency fund sufficient to cover at least
Once you have converted your retirement funds into a life annuity, living annuity or a combination of the two, keep in mind that you will not be able to make lump sum withdrawals and it is, therefore, important to plan
If the primary residence is owned by the first-dying spouse, the surviving spouse may find herself without accommodation if the deceased bequeaths the property to a third party. Joint financial planning is very difficult where a couple is married without
Having a foreign executor appointed in a foreign will means that your local estate can be finalised without delays caused by obtaining recognition in a foreign jurisdiction. Further, a foreign will dealing with offshore assets will address specific requirements of
A Living Will can be used to express your desire to die a natural death without being kept artificially alive by often painful and invasive medical treatment including (but not limited to) medication, tube feeding, dialysis or life support. It
Living trusts can be used effectively to house growth assets outside of one’s personal estate to reduce tax and estate duty liabilities, a process that is often referred to as estate pegging. For instance, if an estate planner wants to
Another legal requirement for the validity of your will is that you must sign in full at the bottom of each page, while your witnesses must sign in full at the bottom of the last page as close to your
