financial dependants
Children under 18 cannot inherit lump sum payouts or other assets directly, as they lack the legal capacity to manage such assets. Therefore, if you intend to name a minor child as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or
While the proceeds of domestic life insurance policies are deemed property in a deceased estate, buy and sell cover is a notable exception. This insurance is taken out by business owners on each other’s lives so that, if one shareholder
In the context of one’s estate plan, note that once the trustees have made their determination, the proceeds will be paid directly to the beneficiaries and/or nominees and, as such, these assets fall outside of the deceased estate and are
Future dependants would include those people whom the deceased member did not financially maintain or support at the time of his death but who would have been maintained if he was still alive. Future dependants could therefore include unborn children
If the member had no financial dependants at the time of death but had made beneficiary nominations, the trustees must first determine whether the member’s deceased estate is solvent. If not, then the death benefit – or a portion thereof
When it comes to planning the distribution of your retirement benefits to your heirs and beneficiaries, it is important to keep in mind that funds housed in approved retirement funds do not fall into your estate. Rather, the distribution of
If you are self-employed, you may want to consider implementing mechanisms to ensure that your personal assets are protected from business creditors; whereas if you have interests in a business, business assurance mechanisms can be employed to ensure that these
While South Africans enjoy freedom of testation, this freedom has a number of limitations, with Section 37 being one of them. The Act makes it clear that the member’s Will or beneficiary nomination cannot override the provisions of Section 37C,
