BLC Attorneys has a Wills and Estate planning department, under which the following general fields of law are practiced:-
- The drafting and execution of Wills;
- The administration of deceased estates;
- The formation and administration of testamentary trusts;
- Estate planning;
The bulk of the work from our estates department is from the administration of deceased estates. All estates-related work (i.e. reporting of deceased estates, registering the will of a deceased person, registering a trust, administering a deceased estate etc.) is done through the office of the Master of the High Court , which oversees all aspects relating to all persons’ deceased estates and the administration of trusts.
The administration of the average deceased estate can take anything between 8 – 12 months to finalise and, depending on the complexity of matters that need to be dealt with (such as family disputes, payment of creditors, collections of assets and claims in favour of the estate etc.) , could even take up to 24 months or longer.
Any deceased estate that is greater than R 250 000.00 in gross asset value must be administered by the executor (the authorised representative of a deceased estate) with the assistance of a person or institution appropriately qualified and experienced in the field of fiduciary services i.e.:-
- Attorneys;
- Accountants/auditors;
- Banks/bankers;
- Estate administrators;
- Trust companies; etc.
For the administration of deceased estates our firm, as regulated by government regulation, may charge executor’s fees of up to 3.5% of the gross assets value of the estate plus VAT.
Our estates department works closely with our conveyancing department to ensure a quick and efficient transfer of immovable property from a person’s deceased estate to its heirs or purchasers, as the case may be.
Contact Thembi Vabaza for more details on 041 506 3791 or email [email protected]
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