Warwick has chosen Appleton to provide Will and estate administration services to its clients.

Winding up a deceased estate is invariably emotional, traumatic and frustrating. Understanding the process and steps required can help ease the pain and speed up the process. This is particularly important given the delays we are experiencing at some Masters Offices across the country.

The basic steps are as follows:

Report the death

In terms of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, a person’s death must be reported to the Department of Home Affairs, which will then issue a death certificate. In practice, the funeral parlour will report the death on your behalf and then provide you with the death certificate. The executor will not be able to register the estate with the Master’s Office without a correctly issued death certificate.

Locate the Will

Locate the Will of the deceased. At Appleton we store your signed Will off-site at no charge. The Will contains details of assets and their distribution and nominates the Executor of the estate, such as Appleton.

Conduct a preliminary meeting with the family

The nominated executor (Appleton) arranges a preliminary meeting with the deceased’s heirs to check the will, establish who the beneficiaries are, and prepare a rough inventory of the deceased’s assets and liabilities.

Collate documents

The nominated executor (Appleton) requires numerous documents, for example, the deceased’s Identity document, certified copies of the IDs of all heirs who stand to inherit, the original signed Will, marriage certificates, antenuptial contracts, birth certificate, divorce orders, and maintenance agreements.

Register the deceased estate and apply for Letters of Executorship

The nominated executor (Appleton) must notify the Master of the deceased’s death by submitting a J294 death notice, amongst other documents, and applies to the Master of the High Court to be appointed as executor.

Open an estate late bank account

If the estate has cash of more than R1 000, the executor (Appleton), once appointed, is required to open a bank account in the name of the deceased estate and deposit all monies into that account.

Report the estate to SARS

The executor (Appleton) is also required to report the deceased estate to SARS and to ensure that all tax liabilities are brought up to date. In doing so, they are required to submit tax returns and pay any capital gains tax that may become due.

Advertise the estate

The executor (Appleton) is required to advertise the deceased estate so that any potential creditors can register their claims. To do this, the executor will need to place an advert, in terms of Section 29 of the Administration of Estates Act, in the government gazette and local newspaper in the area where the deceased resided at their death.

Prepare the liquidation and distribution account

After the expiration of this advertisement period, the executor (Appleton) prepares a liquidation and distribution account (L&D), which accounts for all assets, liabilities and the distribution of the deceased estate. The Master requires that the executor files the L&D account within six months of the date of issue of the Letters of Executorship although they can request an extension if necessary.

Lodge the L&D account with the Master

Once finalised, the executor must lodge the L&D account with the Master, for his perusal and acceptance. The executor is required to respond to any queries that the Master has on the accounts and, once satisfied, the Master will give permission for the L&D account to be advertised.

Advertise the L&D account

The executor is then required to place an advert in the government gazette and local newspaper announcing that the L&D account will lie open for inspection at the Master’s office and Magistrate’s Court (if necessary) for a period of 21 days. If no objections to the account are received, the executor may proceed to distribute the estate.

Pay creditors

All liabilities in the estate must be paid before the estate can be distributed amongst its heirs, including any amount owing to SARS in respect of estate duty and income tax.

Pay beneficiaries

Once all liabilities have been settled, the executor may transfer assets and distribute estate funds in terms of the Will and L&D Account.

Obtain clearance from SARS

Before finalising the estate, the executor (Appleton) must obtain a compliance letter from SARS confirming that all outstanding taxes have been paid.

Apply to Master for discharge of duties

The executor (Appleton) can then apply to the Master for a discharge from all responsibilities as the executor and, if satisfied, the Master will issue a filing slip and the executor may close their file.

With acknowledgment, the excellent original article can be found at: https://www.moneyweb.co.za/financial-advisor-views/15-steps-to-administering-a-deceased-estate/