Deceased Estates in Durban

Durban

Address

2 Devonshire Place, 2nd Floor, Durban, 4001

Phone

031 327 0600

Email

MasterDurban@justice.gov.za

Province

KwaZulu-Natal

Verified 15 August 2026 against the Department of Justice. Phone before you travel - these details do change.

What tends to hold estates up in Durban

• KwaZulu-Natal has two Master's offices, Durban and Pietermaritzburg. Which one handles the estate depends on where the deceased lived for the 12 months before death, so establish that first.
• Customary marriages recognised under the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 are common in this province and they matter directly to the outcome. Each recognised spouse is a spouse for intestate succession, and where there is more than one, each takes a child's share or R250,000, whichever is greater.
• Where the deceased lived outside the Durban magisterial district, the account must also lie open for inspection at the magistrate's office for that district.
• Bring proof of the marriage in whatever form exists. For a customary marriage this can include the registration certificate under the Act, or evidence of the customary requirements having been met where it was never registered. Unregistered customary marriages are not automatically invalid, but they do need to be proved.

Finding an estate attorney in Durban

We do not publish a list of firms. We cannot verify a firm's current standing, its fees, or whether it still does estate work, and a stale directory is worse than none for somebody who has just lost a family member. What we can do is point you at the regulator's own register, which is authoritative and current.

• The Legal Practice Council runs a public practitioner search at lpc.org.za/members-of-the-public/search-practitioners. Use it to confirm that anyone you are considering is actually on the practising roll.
• The Law Society of South Africa has a Find a Legal Practitioner directory at lssa.org.za/find-a-legal-practitioner.
• Ask for the firm's current Fidelity Fund certificate. Any attorney practising for their own account and handling trust money must hold one. If there is no valid certificate, the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund cannot consider a claim, which is exactly the protection you are relying on.
• The Master's office itself will assist members of the public with the reporting process, at no charge. For a straightforward estate, particularly a small one, that may be all the help you need.

What to ask before you appoint anyone

1. What executor's fee will you charge, as a percentage? The statutory maximum is 3.5% of gross assets plus 6% of post-death income. It is a ceiling, not a price, and it is negotiable.
2. Is VAT charged on top of that?
3. What else will be charged separately - conveyancing, tax returns, an administration fee?
4. Who will actually handle the file, and what happens if that person leaves?
5. How often will beneficiaries be updated, and by whom?
6. Get all of it in writing before you commit.

Work out what the tariff comes to on this estate before you have that conversation: executor's fees calculator. And if the estate is under R250 000 gross, read small estates first - you very likely do not need to pay anyone a percentage at all.

Start here

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