So you have made the first step in realising the need for a Last Will and Testament, but who do you appoint as the Executor of your Estate? Should it be your surviving spouse, your children or some other family member?

First, let us look at some of the basic work involved for the Executor:

  • Your executor will need to physically go to the Master’s office to register the estate. If there is any outstanding information or paperwork at this stage, your executor will be told and will need to go back again to provide outstanding information. Your executor stands in a queue and waits to hand the original Will in and gets it acknowledged.
  • Specific papers need to be prepared to hand in to the Master with the original Will when you pass away. An executor will need assistance, if they are not an attorney or accountant, as it is quite extensive work. If your nominated executor is your spouse, a problem may occur as they will need to sign of the paperwork as spouse and
  • The Master will require the executor to provide full details of beneficiaries named in your Will and this is part of the paperwork, which the Master requires when the executor goes to register the original Will at the Master’s office.
  • Your executor will need to hand in at the same time a complete list of all your investments, policies, bank accounts, credit cards, assets and liabilities.
  • Your executor now goes back, hoping that when he goes the Letters of Executorship have been issued. Only once this has been received, can he give instructions to companies and banks. No companies will assist him before then. Every time he goes it involves parking costs, petrol and time for travel.
  • Our experience with the Master is that it can now take six months before you are able to receive the Letters of Executorship and during this period you cannot call or send an email or communicate in anyway other than to visit the office and stand in a queue.
  • Your executor needs to advertise the estate in the Government Gazette and local newspaper as required by law for six weeks and pay the costs.

In addition your executor, assuming it is your spouse, needs to be able to:

  • Do the conveyancing to transfer the property from your name to the person you have bequeathed your property. If they are not a registered conveyancer, they will have to appoint an attorney to see to this. There are fees associated to this.
  • Open a bank account in the name of the estate.
  • Communicate with the municipality regarding outstanding rates.
  • Communicate with all the companies which you may have had accounts with.
  • Communicate with your bank and obtain necessary information regarding accounts and credit cards.
  • Visit SARS to change your bank account details to reflect the estate’s bank account.
  • Ensure that your tax affairs are up to date and will also need to go to SARS and ensure that they are happy with the tax returns, which an accountant completes and signs off.
  • Communicate (if you are still working) with your employer regarding outstanding salary, leave and bonus payments.
  • Communicate with the insurance company with whom your pension/provident fund is registered. The paperwork here can be very onerous and your Executor will need to be able to complete and submit it with all the requirements the Trustees of the fund/s sets.
  • Open a Liquidation and Distribution Account – this is effectively an accounting function. Letters to creditors and debtors must be prepared in order to determine claims for and against the estate. The notice to creditors must be placed in appropriate publications, such as the Government Gazette and newspapers.
  • Submit the completed and final Liquidation and Distribution Account to the Master. Once the Master is happy with the contents, he will sign off the estate.
  • Deal with any questions or queries the Master might raise.
  • Calculate possible Estate Duty and pay over, depending on the value of your estate and the relationship of the beneficiaries to the deceased.

The role of the Executor is not a simple task, which is why we encourage clients to think long and hard before simply appointing a family member in order to save on costs. As with everything in life, price is what you pay and value is what you get. If you would like to chat to us about your Will, feel free to get in touch!