FUNDAMENTALS OF ESTATE PLANNING

ESTATE PLANNING

What is the meaning of Estate Planning?

Estate planning is the act of preparing for the transfer of a person’s property and assets after his/her death and takes into account the management of an individual’s estate and their financial obligations.

Proper Estate planning provides clients comfort knowing that they have planned and made the necessary provisions to protect their loved ones in the event of death, minimising the tax burden on heirs as well as protecting families with young children and helping to avoid other potentially devastating consequences.

Fundamentals of Estate Planning 

Estate planning can feel intimidating, but it is a necessary step in ensuring that your assets end up where you want them, without the interference of third parties.

Let Greeff Attorneys turn hour mountain into a mole hill by assisting with your estate planning.

Greeff Attorneys provide a Holistic estate planning service tailor-made to meet each of our clients’ individual needs.

Our estate planning service entails the protection of your property and possessions for the benefit of future recipients through succession planning. The most basic step in estate planning involves the drafting a will. Other major estate planning tasks may include:

• Codicils and living wills;
• Inter vivos trusts;
• Testamentary trusts;
• Antenuptial contracts;
• Powers of attorney
• Trust administration and advice;

Why is it important for Attorneys to draft your Will?

“There were only two things certain in life: death and taxes.” We at Greeff Attorneys believe in taking a proactive approach and advise our clients to plan accordingly.

Most people fail to appreciate that the drafting of a Will and the putting into place of a succession structure and a tax planning strategy is a specialised field of law.

In Ex Parte Kock, the court urge intending testators to consult only persons who are suitably trained in the drafting and execution of wills to be appointed for such tasks, as the lack of compliance with formalities in the drafting of wills results in the Master’s Office rejecting these wills.

If there is no valid will, for whatsoever reason, a person’s estate will devolve in terms of the Intestate Succession Act No. 81 of 1987. This means that your estate will be divided amongst your surviving spouse, children, parents or siblings according to a set formula.

Do not run the risk of leaving your family, your dependants and your loved ones with uncertain futures, do approach our specialist attorney to assist you with your estate planning and the drafting of your Will and other relevant documentation.

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY:

ANGELIQUE ZERF, DIRECTOR OF GREEFF ATTORNEYS