SA Affordable Housing July - August 2019 // Issue: 77 | Page 7

ASSOCIATIONS
Figure 1: Simplified illustration of deceased estate process
houses may no longer be eligible
for this process. This case study
describes the experience of an
unemployed client who had to
wind up an estate where the value
exceeds the current threshold.
DECEASED ESTATES IN
SOUTH AFRICA
Legislation pertaining to the
administration of deceased estates
in South Africa is contained in the
Administration of Estates Act 66 of
1965. Section 18(3) of the act
states that where the value of the
estate falls below a threshold
determined by the Minister of
Justice from time to time, the
Master of the High Court can
appoint a person or persons
(known as the Master’s
Representative), to administer the
estate without having to follow the
full procedure as set out in the act.
That threshold was set at
R250 000 in 2014, when the
minister increased it from R125
000. In practice this means that
qualifying estates (also known as
‘small estates’) do not need to
appoint an executor, which
typically is a qualified attorney, to
formally wind up the estate by
means of a Liquidation and
Distribution Account.
Instead, the ‘small estate’ can be
administered in line with the
directives of the nominated
master’s representative or
executor. This translates into
significant savings in terms of time
and legal fees for beneficiaries, as
outlined in Figure 1 and Table 1.
Many of the deceased estate
cases at the TSC fall below the
threshold and are considered
‘small estates’ and can be
Table 1: Key differences in deceased estate processes
ESTATE VALUE < R250 000 ESTATE VALUE > R250 000
Master’s representative Nominated heir is appointed as
master’s representative Executor appointed
Documentation
requirements Standard set of Department of Justice
documents Same as small estates except an additional requirement
is the submission of a letter from an attorney stating that
they will act as the executor’s agent
Reporting requirements Reporting can be done at the local
Magistrate Court Reporting to be done at Master’s Office in Cape Town
Timelines 6 to 8 weeks At least six months
Costs incurred to wind
up estate R50 for certified copy of the Next-of-
Kin-Affidavit (J192) Disbursement costs: about R2 500
Attorney fees: up to 3.5% of estate value
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JULY - AUGUST 2019
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