Estate Bank Account Checker
Section 28 requires an account in the name of the estate once the executor holds more than R1,000 in estate money. This checks whether yours needs one and sets out exactly what to take to the bank.
Cash only. The value of a house or a car does not count towards this test.
Determines whether this is a section 18(3) small estate.
The single biggest determinant of whether the bank can help you.
Do you need one?
Take all of this with you
Individual banks add their own forms and occasionally ask for more. Phone the bank's deceased estates department before you go in, rather than walking into a branch. Branch staff who rarely see an estate account are where most of the wrong information comes from.
Which bank?
Any bank in South Africa. The document requirements are broadly the same everywhere because they come from the Administration of Estates Act and from FICA, not from the bank's own policy. Absa, Capitec, FNB, Nedbank and Standard Bank each have a documented deceased-estates process and a department that handles it. If you bank somewhere not on that list, phone and ask before you assume - not every institution opens estate accounts, and a digital-only bank may not.
The Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa publishes a banking-sector matrix of the major banks' deceased-estate processes and turnaround times at fisa.net.za. It is aimed at practitioners but it is the most current comparison of who does what, and it carries the estates-department contact details straight from the banks.
What genuinely differs is the monthly fee, and that matters more than it sounds because the account may run for a year or two. We deliberately do not publish a fee comparison here, because bank pricing changes several times a year and a stale table would cost you money rather than save it. Ask each bank for its current estate account fee, in writing, and ask specifically whether there is an estate administration fee on top of the monthly fee.
Two practical tips
- The bank where the deceased already banked is often fastest, because it already holds the account being closed and has the deceased's records.
- You cannot simply rename the deceased's existing account. It is closed and a new account in the name of the estate is opened.
Why this matters more than it sounds
- It keeps estate money separate from your own. Commingled funds are close to impossible to defend if a beneficiary later questions the administration.
- Every receipt and payment in the liquidation and distribution account must be vouched, and one dedicated account is what makes that possible.
- The Master, and any surety who furnished a bond for you, have the same right to information about the account as you do.
- It is a statutory duty. An executor who runs the estate through a personal account has breached section 28, and that is the kind of thing that surfaces at exactly the wrong moment.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to open an estate bank account?
Section 28 of the Administration of Estates Act requires an executor to open a cheque account in the name of the estate once they hold more than R1,000 in estate money, unless the Master directs otherwise. For a very small estate it is worth asking the Master for that direction.
Can I use my own bank account for the estate?
No. It breaches section 28 and it makes every later question about the administration harder to answer. Keep estate money completely separate.
What do I need to open one?
The original Letters of Executorship or Letters of Authority, a certified death certificate, your own ID and proof of address for FICA, the Master's estate reference number, and a certified copy of the deceased's ID. Where there are co-executors, all of them.
Can I open an estate account on Letters of Authority?
Sometimes. A section 18(3) appointment is narrower than an executorship and some banks decline or limit it. If that happens, go back to the Master and ask what they will confirm in writing.
How long does it take?
Anywhere from the same day to a few weeks. The variable is almost never the bank's process, it is whether you arrived with a complete document set.
What happens to the account at the end?
It is closed once the final distribution has been paid out and the estate is finalised. Reconcile it to zero deliberately rather than leaving a residual balance in a forgotten account.
Where these figures come from
Related
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.