Wills

WILLS

WHAT IS A WILL

A Will is a specialised document, which should preferably be drawn up by an expert like an attorney, which contains the Testator’s/Testatrix’s instructions and last wishes as to what must happen to his/her assets when he/she dies.

WHO IS COMPETENT TO MAKE A WILL

The person who signs a Will is called the Testator/Testatrix. Persons 16 years and older are competent to make a Will to determine how their estate should devolve after their death, unless they were mentally incapable of appreciating the consequence of their actions at the time of making the Will

VAT and Transfer Duty

Property Law encompasses inter alia matters relating to Value Added Tax (VAT), Transfer Duty and Capital Gains Tax (CGT), which fall in the sphere of the South African Tax Law.

To explain the place of VAT and Transfer Duty in Property Law, we distinguish between what we call VAT and/or Transfer Duty transactions.

A VAT transaction is where the Seller is a registered VAT vendor.  In this case, the Purchaser will not be liable to pay Transfer Duty to the Receiver of Revenue, because the Seller will ultimately pay VAT on the transaction to the Receiver, and therefore it is labeled a “VAT Transaction”.

Administration of a Deceased Estate

The following is an explanation of the administration process of a deceased estate in a nutshell and can differ from estate to estate:

Trusts

Trusts are regulated by the provisions of the Trust Property Control Act, No 57 of 1988, which act defines a “trust” as follows:

““trust” means the arrangement through which ownership in property of one person is by virtue of a trust instrument made over or bequeathed –

  1. to another person, the trustee, in whole or in part, to be administered or disposed of according to the provisions of the trust instrument for the benefit of the person or class of persons designated in the trust instrument or for the achievement of the object stated in the trust instrument; or
  2. to the beneficiaries designated in the trust instrument, which property is placed under the control of another person, the trustee, to be administered or disposed of according to the provisions of the trust instrument for the benefit of the person or class of persons designated in the trust instrument or for the achievement of the object stated in the trust instrument,