Still waiting for my inheritance!
“Why does the winding up of an estate, even where there is a Will, take so long”? is a question so many folk ask. Some are completed in a matter of months whereas others can take years.
A friend tells me that his mother’s estate has stagnated for 11 years as there is a dispute about a piece of land. The local municipality claims there are outstanding rates but the family have proof that the municipality bought the land some years before his mother died. Having spoken to lawyers, banks and accountants it would appear that the average time is around a year.
Still waiting for my inheritance!
“Why does the winding up of an estate, even where there is a Will, take so long”? is a question so many folk ask. Some are completed in a matter of months whereas others can take years.
A friend tells me that his mother’s estate has stagnated for 11 years as there is a dispute about a piece of land. The local municipality claims there are outstanding rates but the family have proof that the municipality bought the land some years before his mother died. Having spoken to lawyers, banks and accountants it would appear that the average time is around a year.
Administrator or Executor
There are so many factors which can contribute to the time taken. The value, the complications in distribution of the assets, contacting beneficiaries, finding documentation, getting information from pension and insurance companies and medical aid statements are just some of the things which cause delays. In this article I shall look at 2 examples where, it just so happens, one estate is below the threshold for an Executor but an Administrator is appointed to do the basic administration in distributing the assets according to the Will. The other estate has a value in excess of the threshold and has to have an Executor, notices calling for creditors placed in the newspaper and Government Gazette and a final Distribution and Liquidation balance sheet prepared.
The Estate which was below the threshold took just 4 months to complete mainly because the deceased had just one bank account, no debts and a simple Will. The other also had a simple Will but, as the estate’s value is above the threshold for administration, an Executor had to be appointed and all the other processes, as detailed in my book, must be followed. Beyond that, assets had to be sold, insurances claimed and creditors paid. But other issues delayed it right at the start.
Jurisdiction
I learnt that an Executor can only be appointed by the Master of the High Court in the area in which the deceased had lived for the last 6 months of his/her life (Master A) and not in the jurisdiction where the Executor resides. Master A is able to transfer jurisdiction to the Master B, ie the area where the Executor resides if he/she so agrees. What we also learnt is that the beneficiaries have to approve this decision and, only if they do approve this change in jurisdiction, does Master A transfer jurisdiction. I find this rather odd but bureaucracy is seldom sensible.
The notice which has to be placed in the Legal Section of a relevant newspaper as well as the Government Gazette has to allow creditors 21 days in which to contact the Executor and lodge a claim on the estate. That is 3 weeks in which little else can be done.
Selling of Assets
Selling of major assets can also be difficult. A house cannot be put on the market unless all outstanding Rates and Utilities have been paid. If it is within a complex, levies must also be up to date. It is very likely that there are one or more cars owned by the deceased and these have to be sold and reregistered. Particular problems that can arise include where the car(s) are registered and where a purchaser might reside and once again a jurisdiction problem can be encountered. Each province in South Africa is autonomous with regard to the registering of vehicles and one cannot register the vehicle(s) with 1 provincial registration no. in another province. It would seem to be best to first find a buyer and then do the reregistration in the province of the buyer.
Insurances, Endowments and Annuities
We have found that one of the things which can take a very long time is the payment of insurance, endowment and retirement annuities. This is exacerbated if the deceased has not ensured that the nominated beneficiaries are still the ones he/she wants or made changes when a beneficiary dies. In this situation, instead of the insurance being paid to the nominated beneficiary it is paid into the estate. But the documentation required is incredible. Death certificates of both the owner and the beneficiary must be given to the insurance company; certificates or affidavits proving that the deceased has no other dependants or persons who have a claim on the payout. So once again, a reminder, do not dispose of any of those certificates when someone dies. If you are missing any, work on getting copies now so making life easier for your Executor and beneficiaries at a later date. Also, update information on beneficiaries regularly.
Anything else?
Having learnt all this and, I am certain, they are not the only things which affect the Winding up of an Estate, the answer to the question asked at the beginning, “Winding up of and Estate, How long does it take?” is that well known one, “How long is a piece of string?
