How to Open an Estate Bank Account in South Africa

When it is compulsory

Section 28 of the Administration of Estates Act requires an executor, unless the Master directs otherwise, to open a cheque account in the name of the estate as soon as they hold more than R1,000 in estate money, and to deposit into it the money they hold and everything they receive for the estate afterwards.

The executor may also open a savings account in the name of the estate and move across any money not immediately needed to pay claims. The Master, and any surety of the executor, have the same rights to information about the account as the executor does.

The account is opened in a specific form, typically styled as the late estate of the deceased with the estate number, which is why it is often called an estate late account.

Why it matters more than it sounds

• It keeps estate money separate from the executor's own money. 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 has to be vouched. A single dedicated account is what makes that possible.
• Beneficiaries and the Master can see a clean trail. Executors who ran the estate through a personal account are the ones who end up in disputes.
• It is a statutory duty, not a preference. An executor who ignores it has breached section 28.

What every bank will ask for

Requirements differ in detail between banks and even between branches, but the core set is consistent. Take originals and certified copies of everything.

1. The original Letters of Executorship, or the Letters of Authority for a section 18(3) estate. Nothing happens without this.
2. A certified copy of the death certificate.
3. The executor's original identity document and proof of residential address, for FICA.
4. The estate reference number allocated by the Master.
5. A certified copy of the deceased's identity document.
6. Where there are co-executors, the documents and FICA verification for each of them, plus a clear mandate on whether they sign jointly or severally.

Phone the bank's deceased estates department before going in, rather than a branch. Most of the large South African banks run a dedicated estates unit, and branch staff who rarely see an estate account are where the wrong information usually comes from.

Where applications get bounced

• Presenting Letters of Authority and asking for the same powers as Letters of Executorship. A section 18(3) appointment is narrower and some banks will not open a full estate account on it. Ask the Master what they will endorse if the bank pushes back.
• Co-executors where only one turns up. If the Letters name two people, most banks want both, in person, at least once.
• Certified copies older than the bank's accepted window. Many banks will not accept a certification older than three months.
• An executor whose own FICA is not in order. The bank is verifying you, not just the estate.
• Assuming the deceased's existing account can simply be renamed. It cannot. The old account is closed and a new estate account is opened.

Costs and the small-estate exception

Estate accounts carry monthly fees like any other business account, and they run for the whole life of the estate, which can be well over a year. Ask about the monthly fee and whether the bank charges an estate administration fee on top, because these vary and they come out of the beneficiaries' money.

For genuinely small estates, the Master can direct that no account is opened, which is the exception section 28 allows for. Where a section 18(3) estate holds only a modest cash balance, ask the Master rather than assuming the account is unavoidable.

Our checker walks through what your specific estate needs: /tools/deceased-estates/estate-bank-account-checker

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