By Neville Bredenkamp van der Spuy, Attorney, Executor Law (J Bredenkamp Incorporated)
Estate planning receives enormous attention, with seminars held on tax efficiency, families debating trusts with experts, and financial planners discussing investment structures. Lawyers, like Neville, draft wills and related testamentary documentation, but then someone dies and suddenly a serious amount of work begins, work that has largely been overlooked until that moment.
As an attorney practising exclusively in wills, deceased estate administration, and related legal and property matters, Neville spends his days dealing with grieving families, the Master of the High Court, SARS, banks, insurers, financial advisors, retirement homes, retirement funds and, increasingly, assets spread across multiple jurisdictions. He witnesses how carefully considered estate planning is tested against practical reality, because he closes the loop once you have passed away.
The administration of a deceased estate is not simply a legal process, but rather an administrative marathon requiring legal knowledge, persistence, coalface experience, practical attention to detail and, above all, compassion for families trying to navigate one of the most difficult periods of their lives. There are many lessons to draw from years of practice at the coalface of deceased estate administration, and here are just a few.
A Will Is the Theoretical Beginning of a Practical Journey
People often think that once the will has been signed, the work is done, but in reality, the will merely opens the door to what can become months, and sometimes years, of administration.
Every institution has its own requirements, and the Master requires strict compliance with the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965, including prescribed forms and strict procedural requirements at every stage of the administration process.
Wet ink signatures, notarised and apostilled for spouses, children, trustees, relatives, and professionals overseas, make round-robin journeys across the globe, while SARS must issue the necessary tax clearance and pre-death and post-death returns must align and be up to date. Financial houses require their own documentation before assets can be released, and property transfers, share transfers, and investment realisations all follow different procedures and require different professional input.
A good estate plan, and especially a sound will, makes that process easier, while a poor or outdated will can complicate almost every step that follows.
If You Cannot Name the Person Who Will Administer Your Estate, Your Will Needs Attention
No family experiences a death as a legal exercise, but often on the same day that families are arranging funerals, supporting one another, and trying to adjust to an entirely different life, executors are collecting documents and obtaining valuations to steer the ship from rough seas to harbour.
The quality of the communication and the practical guidance received from the administrator or executor is an astoundingly overlooked variable in most estate plans, and one of the most common frustrations Neville encounters is not necessarily delay itself, but silence.
Families can often accept that certain processes take time, but what they struggle with is not knowing what is happening or whether anyone is taking ownership of the matter, finding themselves receiving automated email responses, being prescribed wait-times, encountering rotating help desk allocations, and memorising ticket numbers, only to discover that the professional work is being technically outsourced.
Good estate administration requires legal competence, but it also requires personal empathy, tested systems, and flexibility.
Choosing an Executor Is Choosing Who Will Guide Your Family
Many people appoint an executor without considering what the role actually involves, as an executor does far more than collect assets and distribute inheritances. They deal with the Master of the High Court, prepare statutory accounts, resolve tax issues, trace beneficiaries, negotiate with creditors, arrange property transfers, liaise with financial institutions, and frequently coordinate professionals across several disciplines, while also interacting directly with your surviving spouse and children, sometimes on a daily basis.
Increasingly, estates involve offshore investments, foreign bank accounts, or overseas property, and those assets often require separate legal processes before they can be dealt with. The executor regularly assists with obtaining and resealing Grants of Probate, liaising with foreign lawyers and international trustees, obtaining sworn translations, and notarising and apostilling documents to navigate different legal systems before assets can ultimately be transferred to South African heirs.
When appointing an executor, the real question is not whether they are well known, but whether they have the genuine expertise, capacity, and commitment to guide your family through a complex administrative process.
International Estates Are Becoming Increasingly Common
Many South Africans now own investments, retirement products, property, or bank accounts outside the country, and the inverse often applies for foreigners in respect of South African estates. Families are often surprised to discover that a South African Letter of Executorship does not automatically allow an executor to administer foreign assets, nor does a foreign grant of probate enable easy access in this country, as different countries have different succession laws, probate procedures, and reporting requirements, with some jurisdictions requiring entirely separate court applications before assets can be released.
To illustrate the complexity Neville regularly encounters: one child is in London, another in New York, two more are in Australia but one is travelling in South America, and the core asset is an investment portfolio of Swiss shares held by a Guernsey company with nominee shareholders. The executor must decipher the intricacies, contact everyone, notarise and where necessary apostille the relevant documents, and do so within 14 days using wet ink signed forms, making the role more than one of trust, but fundamentally one of competence.
Small Drafting Decisions Often Have Very Large Consequences
Some of the most significant problems Neville encounters arise from only a few words in a will, where a beneficiary unexpectedly becomes liable for estate duty because they received the house but their sibling the residue, a trust is triggered unnecessarily, a property cannot be transferred without first obtaining additional approvals from the Master, or a clause drafted years ago no longer reflects the family’s circumstances.
Estate administration frequently reveals issues that seemed insignificant when the will was signed but become critically important after death, and it is precisely these small drafting decisions that carry the greatest practical weight.
Estate Planning Should Make Administration Easier
The purpose of estate planning is not simply to minimise tax, but also to make administration practical, and that means ensuring there is sufficient liquidity, keeping beneficiary nominations updated, maintaining proper records of important assets, reviewing wills regularly, ensuring the executor has had sight of original documentation, and fundamentally, appointing someone who can actually perform the task entrusted to them, especially where multiple heirs, foreign assets, and immovable property are involved.
The most sophisticated estate structure is of little value if those left behind cannot navigate it.
The Greatest Gift You Leave Behind Is Certainty
The most difficult part of Neville’s work is rarely interpreting legislation, but rather watching families trying to make important financial decisions while they grieve someone they love.
The best estate plans are seldom the most complicated, but are the ones that allow the administration to proceed as smoothly as possible, giving families the freedom to spend less time dealing with paperwork and more time remembering the person they have lost.
Speak to Neville and the Executor Law team today →
About the Author
Neville Bredenkamp van der Spuy BA, BA(Hons), LLB, LLM is an attorney practising exclusively in wills, deceased estate administration, and property at J Bredenkamp Incorporated, trading as Executor Law.
He advises individuals, families, and financial professionals, and specialises in the practical administration of deceased estates, including estates with international and offshore assets.
He regularly assists with cross-border succession matters and the administration of complex local and international estates which require discerning, discreet, and boutique attention instead of institutional rigidity.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does deceased estate administration typically take in South Africa?
In most cases, between 12 and 24 months from the date of death to final distribution, with the timeline depending on the complexity of the estate, SARS processing times, the Master of the High Court’s workload, and whether any foreign assets or property transfers are involved. Straightforward estates with up-to-date tax affairs and no immovable property can sometimes be finalised sooner.
What is the difference between a good will and a poor one in practical terms?
A good will gives the executor clear authority, names a capable executor, accounts for all major assets, and has been reviewed recently enough to reflect the deceased’s current circumstances and applicable tax law, while a poor will creates ambiguity, names executors who are no longer able to act, or contains drafting errors that require court intervention to resolve. The difference between the two is felt most acutely during administration, not at the time of signing.
Can a South African executor deal with assets in foreign countries?
Not automatically, as a South African Letter of Executorship gives the executor authority over South African assets only. Foreign assets typically require a separate legal process in each relevant jurisdiction, which may include resealing a Grant of Probate, appointing a local administrator, or complying with that country’s specific succession and probate procedures, all of which add time, cost, and complexity to the estate administration.
What should I look for when appointing an executor in my will?
Look for someone with genuine legal expertise in deceased estate administration, not just a trusted name, who will manage the full process personally rather than outsourcing it and communicate clearly with your family throughout. Executor Law practises exclusively in this area, offering families the certainty of specialist attention without institutional rigidity.