If the proper estate process is followed without any hitches, an estate can be finalized within nine to twelve months. However, there are now ‘new’ challenges that prolong this process indefinitely.
Previously, the Letter of Executorship was issued by the Master’s Office within seven days.
However, it can now take months to get the Executor’s Appointment, as the Master’s Office now has to confirm with the Department of Home Affairs that the deceased is indeed deceased.
Fraud has increased dramatically in recent times, with syndicates working together to submit forged documents to falsify that a person is deceased.
There have been several cases where reporting documents have been ‘intercepted’ and fraudulent Letters of Executorship have been issued, enabling the syndicate to open estate bank accounts, solicit investments and then disappear with the money.
As a result, it now takes months to get bank details from financial institutions, as they first must confirm the legitimacy of the documents before they can act on them.
Turnaround times can be between three and six months.
In the past, you would have submitted the Deceased’s final income tax assessment up to the date of death and your SARS obligations would have been settled.
Heirs had to declare the post-date-of-death income themselves. Nowadays, an executor must register the estate for post-date-of-death income and submit and settle the returns up to the Liquidation Account.
One of the final requirements of the Master’s Office, before an estate can be settled and filed, is a SARS Deceased Estate Compliance certificate which shows that all taxes before and after death have been filed and settled. This can take months.
Most Master’s Offices also have their own challenges with emails, internet and their internal computer systems which sometimes go offline for months at a time.
Patience, patience is the key.