Drafting Of Will Centurion

Professional will drafting in Centurion records your beneficiaries, nominates an executor and executes the document in accordance with the Wills Act 7 of 1953. Burger Huyser Attorneys provides this service through its Centurion branch at Block 12, Unit 34, First Floor, Central Office Park, 257 Jean Avenue, where clients can take instructions, sign a valid will and plan the practicalities of safekeeping. The consultation should address the client’s family circumstances, marital regime, assets, liabilities, dependants and estate liquidity before the will is signed in the simultaneous presence of at least two competent witnesses.

Why Use an Attorney to Draft a Will in Centurion

A will is a specialised legal document, and clear instructions are not enough if the document is signed incorrectly, creates conflicting bequests or overlooks the residue of the estate. A professionally drafted will aligns the wording with the client’s actual family structure, marital regime, assets, liabilities, business interests and obligations to dependants rather than forcing those circumstances into a generic template.

An attorney should also identify execution risks before the signing appointment, including inappropriate witnesses, an incomplete signature block, unsigned pages, unclear alternative beneficiaries and an executor appointment that may prove impractical in the long term. No attorney can guarantee how quickly a deceased estate will later be finalised, because that timeline depends on the Master’s Office, the estate’s complexity and the cooperation of heirs — the immediate objective is a clear, valid and workable will suited to the client’s instructions.

Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Centurion branch handles wills within the firm’s broader Wills & Estates practice, which covers drafting, trust formation and deceased estate administration, so the same branch can identify whether a given instruction is purely a drafting matter or part of a larger succession plan.

What a Professional Will-Drafting Service Should Cover

1. Initial instructions and conflict check. Establish the client’s identity, legal capacity, family circumstances, marital regime, any existing will and the objectives the will must achieve.
2. Estate and liquidity overview. List material assets, liabilities, policies and business interests, then identify issues that need separate tax, financial-planning or trust advice before the will is finalised.
3. Beneficiary and executor planning. Record primary and substitute beneficiaries, decide how the residue should pass, nominate a suitable executor and consider an alternative nominee if the first cannot act.
4. Planning for minor or dependent beneficiaries. Discuss proposed guardianship wishes and decide whether inheritance should pass through an appropriate testamentary trust or another lawful mechanism rather than directly to a minor.
5. Drafting and client review. Prepare the document in plain language, explain the legal effect of each material clause and revise it until it reflects the client’s confirmed instructions.
6. Supervised execution guidance. Arrange or explain a compliant signing process, including witness eligibility, simultaneous presence and signatures on every required page.
7. Original-document and review plan. Confirm where the signed original will be kept, who should know how to locate it and which life events should trigger a review.

What to Bring to the First Will Consultation

• A South African identity document and current contact details.
• Any existing will and codicils, even where the intention is to replace them.
• Spouse’s details, the marriage certificate and the applicable marital regime; if divorced, the divorce order and the relevant settlement agreement.
• Full names and identifying details of children, other beneficiaries, proposed guardians and the preferred executor plus an alternative.
• A practical schedule of major assets and liabilities — immovable property, vehicles, bank and investment accounts, business interests, loans, bonds and other debts.
• Details of life policies and current beneficiary nominations, noting that not every policy benefit necessarily falls into the deceased estate or is controlled by the will.
• Any trust deed, shareholders’ agreement, buy-and-sell arrangement, antenuptial contract or other document that could affect succession planning.
• Questions about estate liquidity, tax, executor remuneration and safekeeping so the attorney can flag where specialist financial or tax advice is also required.

Decisions the Will Must Record Clearly

Decision	What the Will Should Address
Beneficiaries and substitutes	Who receives specific assets, who inherits the residue and what happens if a beneficiary dies before the testator.
Executor appointment	A capable person or institution, an alternative nominee, and whether the will addresses security or an agreed remuneration arrangement.
Minor children and dependants	Guardianship wishes and a legally suitable inheritance mechanism — note that a guardianship nomination remains subject to the governing law and the child’s best interests.
Specific gifts versus the residue	Dealing only with selected assets can leave the rest of the estate undisposed of and potentially subject to intestate succession.
Business and jointly held assets	Check the will against company records, partnership terms, shareholder arrangements and the marital regime rather than assuming every asset can be bequeathed freely.
Digital and practical instructions	Distinguish legally operative bequests from passwords, funeral preferences and personal messages that are better recorded in a separate, securely stored memorandum.

Legal Requirements for a Valid South African Will

The Wills Act 7 of 1953 sets out the formalities for a valid will. The core requirements are summarised below; the drafting attorney should confirm the current text of the Act and any regulations before the signing appointment.

1. The person making the will must generally be at least 16 years old and able to understand the nature and effect of making a will at the time of execution.
2. The will must be in writing — handwritten, typed or printed.
3. The testator must sign at the end of the will in the simultaneous presence of at least two competent witnesses.
4. The witnesses must sign in the presence of the testator and of each other. They must be at least 14 years old and competent to give evidence in court.
5. The testator must sign every page; the witnesses attest the concluding page.
6. A beneficiary, the beneficiary’s spouse, the nominated executor or the executor’s spouse should not act as a witness because sections 4 and 4A of the Wills Act can disqualify a benefit or appointment, even though limited statutory exceptions may apply.
7. If the testator signs by a mark or directs another person to sign, a Commissioner of Oaths must be present, verify the testator’s identity and intention, certify the will and sign the required pages.
8. Alterations, codicils and replacement wills require careful execution. Handwritten changes on an already signed will should never be treated as automatically valid.

Will, Estate Plan, Codicil and Living Will: Do Not Confuse Them

Document or process	Primary purpose	Key practical point
Last will and testament	Directs the distribution of the estate and can nominate an executor.	Must comply with the Wills Act execution formalities.
Estate plan	Reviews assets, liabilities, liquidity, tax exposure, family needs and succession structures.	Broader than the will; its conclusions should inform the drafting instructions.
Codicil	Amends or supplements an existing will.	Must comply with the same formalities as a will; new witnesses may be used.
Living will	Records healthcare preferences if a person cannot communicate.	Does not distribute the deceased estate and should not be presented as a substitute for a last will.

There is a useful distinction between a formally valid will and a practically workable estate plan: the document should be capable of implementation, but drafting is not an outcome guarantee for how the estate will eventually be administered.

Cost, Executor Remuneration, Timing and Safekeeping

Drafting Fee

No public tariff fixes the cost of a professional will in Centurion. The quote should depend on complexity — a simple estate costs less to draft than a matter that involves a blended family, minor beneficiaries, business interests, trusts, foreign assets or specialist tax planning. Clients should ask the drafting attorney to confirm what the quote covers.

Separate Charges

Confirm whether the quote covers the consultation, revisions, the signing appointment, an annual review, safe custody of the original will, an estate plan, and any trust or tax advice. Safe custody is sometimes a separately charged service line at other providers, and a client who assumes it is included can be surprised by an annual storage fee.

Executor Remuneration

Authoritative guidance from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development states that the normal prescribed executor’s fee is 3.5% of the value of the assets in the estate, and that a different fee may be agreed with the nominated executor. For a VAT-registered executor, the effective charge including VAT typically sits near 4.03% of gross asset value. The current statutory tariff, any income component and the VAT treatment should be verified with the nominated executor before the will is finalised.

Estate Liquidity

The will consultation should also consider whether cash will be available for debt, administration expenses, dependants’ maintenance and any tax that becomes due. Liquidity shortfalls are a common reason a “good” will produces a difficult administration later, and the attorney should flag where additional financial planning is needed.

Drafting Timeline

There is no fixed industry turnaround. The Centurion branch confirms timing after reviewing the instructions — drafting typically follows once the family, asset and liability information is complete and any related tax or trust questions are answered, and the signing appointment is then scheduled separately.

Safekeeping

The signed original will should be stored in a secure, dry and accessible place, and a trusted person or the nominated executor should know where it is. An ordinary photocopy is not treated as the original will and should not be relied on as such.

When to Review or Replace a Will

A properly executed will does not expire merely because time passes, but it can be revoked or replaced. It should be reviewed, and a new will or codicil considered, after any of the following:

• Marriage, divorce, or the start or end of a life partnership.
• The birth or adoption of a child.
• The death of a beneficiary or a change in the relationship with a beneficiary.
• The acquisition or disposal of major assets, or a material change in debt.
• A new business interest, or a change in the ownership structure of an existing business.
• A dependant developing additional needs that call for a different inheritance mechanism.

The Three-Month Post-Divorce Rule

Section 2B of the Wills Act generally treats a former spouse as having died before the testator if the testator dies within three months of the divorce, unless the will shows a contrary intention. If the will is not changed and death occurs after that three-month period, an existing bequest to the former spouse can again operate according to its terms — which is precisely why prompt updating after divorce matters.

Replacement Wills and Codicils

A replacement will should expressly revoke earlier wills and be executed correctly. The execution date helps identify the latest instrument, but it does not cure contradictory documents or invalid execution. A codicil can make a limited amendment and may use different witnesses from the original will, but a fully replacement will is usually clearer where several clauses need to change.

What Happens If There Is No Valid Will

If a person dies without a valid will, the estate is distributed under the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 rather than according to undocumented personal wishes. Common consequences include:

• A person the deceased intended to benefit may receive less or nothing.
• An intestate heir the deceased intended to exclude may inherit.
• The family loses the testator’s nominated executor and any tailored beneficiary, guardianship or trust provisions.
• The Master of the High Court’s statutory estate-administration process under the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965 still applies, with reporting documents that typically include the original will (where one exists), a death notice, an estate inventory, marriage or divorce records, a next-of-kin affidavit, a creditor list and executor-appointment paperwork.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to have an attorney draft a will in Centurion?

There is no standard published fee for a professional will in Centurion. The cost is quoted after the attorney has taken instructions and depends on the estate’s complexity — whether it involves a simple estate, a blended family, minor beneficiaries, business interests, trusts, foreign assets or specialist tax planning. Clients should also ask whether the quote covers the consultation, revisions, the signing appointment, safe custody, an estate plan and any trust or tax advice, because each of those can be a separate service line.

What should I bring to my first will consultation?

Bring a South African identity document, any existing will or codicil, the marriage certificate or divorce order, full details of the proposed beneficiaries and executor, and a practical schedule of major assets, liabilities, policies and business interests. Information about minor children, dependants and any proposed guardians should also be at hand so the attorney can record substitute beneficiaries and guardianship wishes correctly.

Can I draft my own will in South Africa?

Yes. South African law does not require an attorney to draft a will, but the document must still satisfy the Wills Act’s capacity, signature and witness requirements. Professional drafting is valuable where the estate includes minor beneficiaries, a blended family, business interests, trusts, foreign assets or liquidity and tax concerns, because it reduces the risk of unclear wording, conflicting bequests or invalid execution.

How long does a will remain valid?

A properly executed will does not expire simply because time passes, but it can be revoked or replaced. It should be reviewed after major family, relationship, financial or business changes, and promptly after a divorce — the Wills Act applies a specific three-month rule to bequests to a former spouse.

Where is Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Centurion office?

The Centurion branch is at Block 12, Unit 34, First Floor, Central Office Park, 257 Jean Avenue, Centurion, 0157. The main line is 012 644 4990, and office hours are Monday to Friday from 07:30 to 16:30.

Arrange a will-drafting consultation in Centurion. Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Wills & Estates team helps clients turn their family, asset and succession instructions into a professionally drafted will and explains the signing requirements in plain language. Contact the Centurion branch on 012 644 4990 or visit Block 12, Unit 34, First Floor, Central Office Park, 257 Jean Avenue, Centurion, 0157, during office hours (Monday to Friday, 07:30 to 16:30). The firm holds a 4.8/5 average from 250+ Google reviews, with client feedback that regularly highlights clear communication, personalised service and honesty about costs and prospects.