Deceased Estates in South Africa
If someone has died and you are the one who has to sort it out, start here. These are free tools and plain-English guides for reporting the estate, getting appointed, working out who inherits what, and understanding what it should cost. We do not administer estates and we do not sell anything. We publish what the Acts and the Master's office actually say, so you can check a quote or a claim against it. Figures verified 15 August 2026.
Calculators
Free, no email required. The help form at the bottom is optional.
Executor's Fees Calculator
What the executor may charge under the section 51 tariff: 3.5% of gross assets, 6% of post-death income, plus VAT. Shows what a reduced rate would save you.
Estate Winding-Up Cost Calculator
Everything the estate pays before anyone inherits: executor's fee, Master's fee, Gazette and newspaper notices, valuations, bank charges and conveyancing.
Who Inherits What (No Will)
Runs the Intestate Succession Act on your family: spouse's child's share or R250,000, descendants per stirpes, multiple spouses, and the parents branch.
Estate Timeline Estimator
A stage-by-stage range for how long this estate will take, separating the periods fixed by law from the ones that depend on the Master's office.
Will Validity Checker
Walks the section 2(1)(a) formalities of the Wills Act one at a time and tells you which requirement a document fails, and what can be done about it.
Estate Bank Account Checker
Whether this estate needs an estate late account under section 28, and the exact document set to take to the bank so it opens first time.
Abatement of Legacies Calculator
When the estate cannot cover everything the will promised, this works out how the legacies are reduced and what each legatee actually receives.
Estate Duty Calculator
The R3.5 million abatement, the R7 million spousal rollover, the 20% and 25% rates, and the section 4 deductions. Most estates come out at zero.
Guides
In roughly the order you will need them.
What to Do When Someone Dies in South Africa
The practical order of things after a death in South Africa: registering the death at Home Affairs, finding the will, reporting the estate to the Master within 14 days, and what not to touch. Plain English, verified against the Administration of Estates Act.
How to Report a Death to the Master of the High Court (Full Document Checklist)
The exact forms and documents the Master requires to report a deceased estate in South Africa - J294, J243, J190, J192, J155 - with separate checklists for estates above and below R250,000, and the mistakes that get files sent back.
Letters of Executorship
Letters of Executorship are the only document that gives anyone legal power over a deceased estate in South Africa. What they are, how they differ from Letters of Authority, how long they take, and what to do when the Master goes quiet.
Small Estates Under R250,000
How the section 18(3) small estate process works in South Africa: who gets appointed, what falls away, why there is no Master's fee, and the limits of a Letter of Authority when property or banks are involved.
Executor Duties in South Africa
What an executor of a deceased estate actually has to do in South Africa, in order, with the statutory deadlines attached to each step - and what personal liability the job carries.
Dying Without a Will in South Africa
Exactly how a South African estate is divided when there is no will: the surviving spouse's R250,000 or child's share, the per stirpes rule for descendants, multiple spouses, and what happens when there is no family at all.
Dying With a Will
What happens to a South African estate when there is a valid will: freedom of testation and its real limits, heirs versus legatees, what happens when a bequest fails, and the claims a will cannot defeat.
Married in Community of Property
How a deceased estate works when the marriage was in community of property: why the surviving spouse's half is not inherited, how the joint estate is administered, what happens to joint debt, and how the bond and bank accounts are handled.
Married With an Antenuptial Contract
How an ANC changes what happens when a spouse dies in South Africa: accrual versus no accrual, how the accrual claim is calculated on death, what is excluded from accrual, and why the date 1 November 1984 matters.
Deceased Estate With Minor Children
What happens when a child under 18 inherits in South Africa: how the Guardian's Fund works, how a guardian claims for maintenance and education, and why a testamentary trust in the will is usually the better answer.
Deceased Estate With Property
How immovable property is transferred out of a deceased estate in South Africa: why no transfer duty is payable, what the rates clearance certificate holds up, what happens to the bond, and the capital gains position on death.
When the Deceased Owned a Business
How a business is dealt with in a South African deceased estate: the difference between a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a Pty Ltd, a close corporation and a trust, why a buy and sell agreement matters, and how the interest is valued.
How to Open an Estate Bank Account in South Africa
Why section 28 requires an estate late bank account, when it is compulsory, the documents every bank asks for, and how to avoid the delays that stop estate accounts being opened first time.
Advertising a Deceased Estate
The two compulsory advertisements in a South African deceased estate: the section 29 notice to creditors and the section 35 notice that the account lies open for inspection. Where each must be placed, for how long, and what it costs.
The Liquidation and Distribution Account Explained
What goes into a liquidation and distribution account in a South African deceased estate, when it is due, what the Master checks, how objections work, and what happens after it is passed.
Estate Duty in South Africa
Estate duty explained plainly: the R3.5 million abatement and how it becomes R7 million between spouses, the 20% and 25% rates, what counts as deemed property, what is deductible, and when it must be paid.
How Long Does It Take to Wind Up an Estate in South Africa?
Realistic timelines for winding up a deceased estate in South Africa, stage by stage: which periods are fixed by law, which depend on the Master's office, and the specific things that add months.
Common Deceased Estate Disputes and How They Get Resolved
The disputes that actually arise in South African deceased estates - contested wills, objections to the account, executors who go silent, maintenance claims - and the formal route for resolving each one.
Digital Assets in a Deceased Estate
How crypto, online accounts and other digital assets are treated in a South African deceased estate: what forms part of the estate, why access is the real problem, and how to plan for it without putting passwords in a will.
Trust Companies and Bank Fiduciary Services
What the major South African trust companies and bank fiduciary businesses actually offer as executor, why the free will is not free, and the specific questions to ask before nominating one in a will.
Who Should Wind Up the Estate
A straight comparison of the three realistic options for administering a South African deceased estate - a family member, an independent attorney or fiduciary practitioner, or a bank trust company - and what each actually costs.
Master of the High Court offices
Every Master's office in South Africa with its address and phone number, which office has jurisdiction over your estate, and how to escalate when one goes quiet.
By city
Which Master's office handles the estate, what tends to hold things up locally, and how to find and check an estate attorney in that city through the regulator's own register.
Deceased estates in Johannesburg
Estates for people who lived in Johannesburg are reported to the Master of the High Court in Marshalltown.
Deceased estates in Pretoria
Estates for people who lived in Pretoria, Centurion and the north of Gauteng are reported to the Master of the High Court in Pretoria.
Deceased estates in Cape Town
Estates for people who lived in Cape Town and the surrounding Western Cape are reported to the Master of the High Court at the Dullah Omar Building in Castle Street.
Deceased estates in Durban
Estates for people who lived in Durban and the surrounding eThekwini area are reported to the Master of the High Court in Devonshire Place.
Deceased estates in Gqeberha
Estates for people who lived in Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth, are reported to the Master of the High Court in Govan Mbeki Avenue.
Deceased estates in Bloemfontein
Estates for people who lived in Bloemfontein and the Free State are reported to the Master of the High Court at the Old Southern Life Building in the city centre.
Other OurPower tools you may need
Capital Gains Tax Calculator
Death is a deemed disposal at market value, so CGT is often the real tax in an estate, not estate duty.
Transfer Duty Calculator
No transfer duty is payable on an inheritance. Use this for a sale of estate property to a third party.
Affidavit Generator
For the supporting affidavits the Master asks for.
SA ID Number Decoder
Check a date of birth on the reporting documents against the ID number.
This page is general information about South African law, not legal, tax or financial advice, and it does not create any professional relationship. Every estate is different and the outcome can turn on facts not covered here. Figures verified 15 August 2026 against the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965, the Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955, the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987, the Wills Act 7 of 1953, the Master of the High Court and SARS. Rates and thresholds change. Before you act on anything here, confirm it with the Master's office handling the estate or with an attorney.