Dealing with deceased estates
In some cases, the property must be transferred to 'Estate Late'. This process requires that the heirs of the deceased beneficiary report the estate to the Master of the High Court or a designated service point in the area the deceased was living for the 12 months prior to his/her death.
In the vast majority of cases, the value of the estate will be less than R250 000, and the estate will be classified as a small estate. A number of documents must be provided by the heirs when the estate is reported. These include:
Original or certified copy of the Death Certificate
Original or certified copy of Marriage Certificate (if applicable) or acceptable proof of marriage, as requested by the Master.
Original will (if any)
Completed Next-of-Kin Affidavit - J192 (if the deceased did not leave a valid will)
Completed Inventory (form - J243) showing all the assets of the deceased. Proof of the value of the assets must be provided. In the case of the subsidy property, this is valued at the subsidy value, based on evidence provided by the housing authority
List of creditors of deceased (if applicable)
Nominations by the heirs for the appointment of a Master’s representative in the case of an intestate estate
Acceptance of Master’s Directions - J155 (eng), completed and signed by the person as nominated above.
Certified copy of the ID of the person to be appointed as Master’s representative.
The Master's office will issue a Letter of Appointment as Master’s Representative also known as the Letter of Authority.
Once the Letter of Appointment has been obtained, the Core Registration Process to the Estate Late beneficiary can proceed, with the Master's Representative signing on behalf of the deceased beneficiary.
Where there is no will in place (the most common scenario), the transfer will follow the laws of intestate succession. According to these laws, if there is no spouse, the property will be transferred to remaining children equally (if there is a spouse see self-classified owner is the spouse of a deceased beneficiary). For other scenarios (i.e. where there is no spouse and no children, see https://www.justice.gov.za/master/wills-is.html)
Maturity Roadmap: suggestion for improvement
This estates administration process is onerous for heirs. With delays and long queues at service points, many heirs may simply not report the estate, making it impossible for the housing authority to transfer to estate late. A more streamlined process is possible, with the housing authority working directly with the Master's Office to provide and accept necessary documents to report the estate and with more direct feedback from the Master's Office to the housing authority once the Letter of Appointment has been issued.
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