The parts of your estate
A coordinated estate plan considers:
- Your personal estate, dealt with in your will
- Trust assets, dealt with by the trustees
- Retirement fund benefits, governed by the applicable legislation
- Contractual arrangements, including life assurance proceeds and buy-and-sell agreements
Questions worth reviewing
Use these questions as a starting point for a conversation with your adviser.
- Do you have a strategic estate plan?
- Is your will signed and up to date?
- Is your family trust exposed to risk, and are you using it effectively?
- Have you considered the estate duty abatement?
- Are your buy-and-sell agreements current?
- Are your policy beneficiaries up to date?
- Is there enough liquidity to meet your estate’s obligations?
The standard estate duty abatement is R3.5 million. Discuss its application to your estate with your adviser. Estate duty information from SARS ↗
Who this suits
Estate planning is for anyone who owns something or is responsible for someone. It suits in particular:
- Parents of minor children
- Business owners and partners
- Blended families with children from previous relationships
- Founders and trustees of family trusts
- People with assets outside South Africa
- Anyone whose will predates a marriage, divorce, birth or major purchase
Problems we help with
The situations that most often bring people to us, and that a review is designed to catch.
No will, or a will that is out of date
Without a valid will, the law decides who inherits. An old will can leave out children or include a former spouse.
Not enough cash in the estate
Executor’s fees, estate duty and debts must be paid before heirs receive anything. Without liquidity, assets are sold at the wrong time.
Minor children inheriting directly
Money left to minors without a trust can end up administered by the Guardian’s Fund until they turn 18.
A business with no succession plan
Shares that pass to family members who cannot run the business, and partners with no funding to buy them out.
Policies and wills that contradict each other
Beneficiary nominations on policies override the will. When they are not aligned, the outcome surprises everyone.
Trusts that are not used as intended
A trust set up years ago that still holds nothing, or holds assets in a way that no longer suits the family.
What happens during a review
A review is a conversation, not a commitment. Here is how it usually runs.
- 01
We take an inventory
Assets, liabilities, policies, retirement funds, business interests and where each is held.
- 02
We read the documents
Your will, trust deeds, beneficiary nominations, antenuptial contract and any buy-and-sell agreements.
- 03
We estimate what happens on death
Executor’s fees, estate duty, capital gains tax and the cash your estate would need at that moment.
- 04
We recommend changes
Liquidity through cover, updates to the will and nominations, and structures that fit your family.
- 05
We work with your other advisers
Attorneys draft and accountants advise on tax. We keep the plan coordinated and review it after every major life event.
Bring the pieces of your estate together
Have your will, beneficiary nominations, asset and liability overview and relevant business agreements available for the adviser. Keep these documents out of the initial enquiry form.
Before we speak
When should I review my plan?+
Marriage, divorce, a new child, a business change or a significant asset purchase are useful prompts to review your arrangements.
Does a beneficiary nomination replace a will?+
Different assets and products follow different rules. Review your will and nominations together, with legal and tax input where required.
Plain-English guide
Terms you will see on schedules and quotes, explained without the jargon.
- Estate
- Everything you own and owe at death, dealt with by an executor before it passes to your heirs.
- Executor
- The person or institution appointed to wind up your estate. Executor’s fees are regulated and charged on the estate’s value.
- Estate duty
- A tax on estates above the abatement, currently R3.5 million, charged at 20% and 25% above a higher threshold.
- Liquidity
- Cash available in the estate to pay fees, taxes and debts without selling assets.
- Intestate
- Dying without a valid will. The Intestate Succession Act then decides who inherits.
- Trust
- A structure that holds assets for beneficiaries, managed by trustees under a trust deed.
- Beneficiary nomination
- The person named on a policy or retirement fund to receive the benefit. It is applied before the will is considered.
- Buy-and-sell agreement
- A contract between business owners setting out how a deceased or disabled owner’s share is bought, usually funded by life cover.
- Guardian’s Fund
- A government fund that holds money for minors and others who cannot manage it themselves.
- Capital gains tax on death
- Death is treated as a disposal of your assets, which can trigger capital gains tax payable by the estate.