Estate planning lawyer in Sandton

Estate planning in South Africa is governed principally by the Wills Act 7 of 1953 (for the will itself), the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965 (for what happens after death) and the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 (for what happens when there is no valid will); an estate planning lawyer in Sandton handles both the lifetime side — drafting wills, setting up trusts, putting powers of attorney and advance directives in place — and the post-death side that runs through the Master of the High Court at the Johannesburg seat. Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Sandton branch (Block 3, 1st floor, Northdowns Office Park, 17 Georgian Crescent East, Bryanston, 011 253 3080) handles both, with deceased-estates work supervised out of the firm’s family-law and estates practice; most instructions start with a one-on-one consultation at the Bryanston/Sandton office to map out the will structure and, where relevant, the trust or administration plan.

Why Engage a Specialist Estate Planning Lawyer in Sandton

Estate planning in South Africa is statute-led. The Wills Act 7 of 1953, the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965, the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 and the Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955 all have to be lined up correctly, otherwise the surviving family inherits delays, extra tax or disputes rather than the deceased’s actual wishes. The R3.5 million estate duty abatement and the 20% rate on the dutiable amount above it (with a higher 25% rate above R30 million) make the difference between a properly planned estate and a punitive one.

Many of the practical mistakes that derail an estate later — a will that does not dispose of all property, a witness who is also a beneficiary, a trust deed that does not survive a Master’s Office query — are drafting mistakes rather than strategy mistakes. A specialist spots them at the will stage, not at the administration stage.

High-net-worth Sandton estates (residential property portfolios, business interests, offshore holdings, second properties up the coast) need discretionary trust structures and buy-and-sell arrangements alongside the will, which is genuinely different work from a basic single-page will. A Sandton-based attorney with a working relationship with the Master’s Office at the Gauteng Division’s Johannesburg seat — the supervising Master for Sandton and northern-Johannesburg estates — handles filings, queries and supplementary paperwork more efficiently than an out-of-area drafter.

Estate planning overlaps with family law, commercial law and tax for Sandton residents with businesses, marital regimes and minor children; a multi-specialist firm can keep the will consistent with the antenuptial contract, the shareholders’ agreement and any divorce order in a single engagement rather than three separate ones. Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Sandton branch is set up to handle exactly that combined planning under Director Anna-Mi Nel, whose portfolio covers deceased estates, divorce and High Court litigation.

What the Service Covers (Scope of Engagement)

A specialist estate planning engagement in Sandton typically covers one or more of the following workstreams.

Lifetime Estate Planning

• Drafting of wills — basic, joint and bespoke structures
• Formation of inter vivos and testamentary trusts
• Drafting of powers of attorney (specific, general and enduring)
• Advance directives and living wills
• Review and amendment of existing wills
• Coordinated planning with existing antenuptial contracts and marital regimes

Deceased Estate Administration (Where Appointed as Executor)

• Reporting the estate to the Master of the High Court at the Johannesburg seat within 14 days of the date of death
• Obtaining Letters of Executorship (estates over R250,000) or Letters of Authority (estates under R250,000 — the simplified process)
• Publishing the statutory notice in the Government Gazette and a local newspaper to invite creditor claims
• Drafting and lodging the Liquidation and Distribution (L&D) Account within 6 months of appointment
• Advertising the L&D Account for the statutory 21-day inspection period
• Obtaining SARS clearance and finalising the estate duty return
• Final distribution and transfer of fixed property

Trust Creation, Registration and Administration

• Inter vivos trust deeds and trust registration with the Master
• Ongoing trustee support and trust restructuring
• Winding up of family trusts when no longer required

Estate Duty Planning and Review

• Advising on how the R3.5 million abatement interacts with the will structure
• CGT and estate-duty exposure on lifetime assets
• Structuring for high-net-worth estates — Section 4A reductions, bequests to a surviving spouse, Section 4 rebates and the public-benefit / spousal / charitable exemptions

Disputes and Queries

• Advice on will contests (testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, technical invalidity)
• Representation on Master’s Office queries
• Deeds office and conveyancing work triggered by the death — including transfer of fixed property from the estate to heirs

The Core Estate-Planning Pillars, Briefly Explained

Pillar	What it does	When it matters most
Valid will (Wills Act 7 of 1953)	Names the heirs and the executor; overrides the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987	Every adult with assets, but especially blended families, business owners and anyone with property
Trust (inter vivos or testamentary)	Holds assets for named beneficiaries under a trust deed; can reduce estate duty exposure and protect against creditor claims	High-net-worth estates, business succession, children from prior marriages, vulnerable beneficiaries
Power of attorney (general / specific / enduring)	Authorises a chosen person to act on your behalf; an “enduring” power survives incapacity	Anyone who could become unable to manage their own affairs; commonly paired with the will
Liquidation & Distribution Account (Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965)	Statutory accounting document used to wind up a deceased estate and distribute to heirs	Every deceased estate above the simplified-process threshold
Estate duty return (Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955)	Required on estates exceeding the R3.5 million threshold; 20% on the dutiable amount above it	Estates with property, business interests, retirement-fund death benefits, or insurance payouts above the threshold

The Local Filing Layer: Where the National Process Hits the Map

Sandton-area deceased estates are administered through the Master of the High Court, Johannesburg (Gauteng Division’s Johannesburg seat) — not the Pretoria seat, even though some Sandton residents commute to Pretoria. The Master’s Office issues the Letters of Executorship (or Letters of Authority for sub-R250,000 estates) and supervises the 21-day inspection period for the Liquidation and Distribution Account.

For lifetime planning, the relevant local offices are the deeds office (Johannesburg) for property registration, SARS for the estate duty return, and the Master’s Office for any inter vivos trust registration. The Master’s Office also handles trust registration and the appointment of trustees.

What to Look for When Choosing an Estate Planning Lawyer in Sandton

• A working relationship with the Johannesburg Master’s Office. The Master is the administrative gatekeeper for deceased estates, and an attorney who files routinely there clears queries faster than one who treats it as occasional work.
• Cross-practice capability. Estate planning that interacts with an antenuptial contract, a shareholders’ agreement, or a divorce order needs an attorney who can keep the will consistent with those documents, not just a stand-alone drafter.
• High-net-worth experience, where relevant. Discretionary trust deeds, Section 4A structuring, business-succession planning and buy-and-sell arrangements are genuinely different documents from a basic single-page will; ask whether the firm has done the work on estates of the relevant size and complexity.
• Transparent fee conversation. Executor fees are statutorily capped at 3.5% of the gross estate (plus 6% on income collected after the date of death) but are negotiable, especially for large/complex estates; an attorney should quote on a per-file basis rather than estimating loosely up front.
• Principal-attorney involvement, not candidate-attorney delegation. Wills and trust deeds are partner-grade documents, not draft-from-template work; candidate-attorney involvement should be supervised, not the entire engagement.
• Post-death support continuity. The firm that drafted the will is usually the best-placed to administer the estate later, so continuity of file-knowledge matters; ask whether the firm is set up to take the executor appointment.

Burger Huyser’s Sandton branch meets this profile: a working relationship with the Johannesburg Master’s Office, cross-practice integration with the firm’s family-law, commercial-law and notarial capacity (the firm carries notary and conveyancing capacity in-house), supervised partner-grade drafting on wills and trust deeds, and an executor appointment practice that runs files actively rather than passively.

Practical Considerations: Cost, Timeline, What to Bring

Issue	What to expect
Will drafting fee	Basic wills typically start at a few thousand rand; bespoke wills and trust deeds are quoted by complexity. Burger Huyser quotes per file after the first consultation at the Sandton branch (011 253 3080)
Executor fee	Statutory maximum 3.5% of gross estate value plus 6% on income collected after date of death; negotiable for large/complex estates; banks typically charge the full tariff, attorneys often negotiate it down
Lifetime trust formation	Quoted per file; pricing depends on the complexity of the trust deed and any linked tax/estate-duty structuring
Deceased estate timeline	Straightforward estates typically take 9–15 months; complex estates with property, business interests or disputed wills run 18–24 months or longer — most of the timeline is consumed by the statutory advertising periods (Government Gazette, L&D Account inspection) and Master query cycles
Documents for first consultation — lifetime planning	ID, marriage certificate and ANC if applicable, a list of current assets (property, vehicles, investments, business interests, insurance policies), and any existing will or trust deed
Documents for deceased estate administration	Death certificate, original will (if any), ID copies of the deceased and the next-of-kin, marriage certificate and ANC, a list of assets and liabilities, and any prior correspondence with the Master or SARS

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a will if I’m married in community of property?

Yes. Even where the marriage is in community of property, your half of the joint estate still has to be distributed according to your wishes; without a will, the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 determines who inherits, and that formula may not reflect what you want — particularly where there are children from a prior relationship.

What happens if someone dies without a will in South Africa?

The estate is administered under the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987. A surviving spouse receives R250,000 or a child’s share, whichever is greater; the balance is distributed to the children (or, if none, to the deceased’s parents or other relatives in the order the Act sets out). This default rarely matches the deceased’s actual wishes, which is why a valid, professionally drafted will is one of the cheapest legal documents with the highest practical impact.

When does an estate have to be reported to the Master, and what is the R250,000 threshold?

A deceased estate must be reported to the Master of the High Court within 14 days of the date of death. Estates under R250,000 follow a simplified process under Letters of Authority; estates above that threshold use the full Letters of Executorship. Sandton-area estates file at the Master’s Office, Johannesburg (the Gauteng Division’s Johannesburg seat).

How does estate duty work, and is it really 20%?

Estate duty under the Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955 is 20% on the dutiable amount of an estate above the R3.5 million threshold; estates below the threshold pay no estate duty. The dutiable amount is the net estate after deductions (including bequests to a surviving spouse, certain Section 4A property, and the public-benefit / charitable exemptions), so the actual tax owed in a properly planned estate is often significantly less than 20% of the gross.

How long does it take to wind up a deceased estate?

A straightforward estate typically takes 9–15 months. Complex estates with property portfolios, business interests or disputed wills run 18–24 months or longer. Most of the timeline is statutory — the Government Gazette publication, the L&D Account 21-day inspection period, the Master’s query cycle and SARS clearance — not attorney delay. Burger Huyser runs these files out of the Sandton branch with active management of Master’s queries to avoid avoidable delays.

Can I name the bank as executor instead of an attorney?

Yes, but banks typically charge the full 3.5% statutory tariff and may decline the appointment for smaller estates; an attorney-executor often negotiates a lower fee for large/complex estates and offers more personal follow-through. Burger Huyser Attorneys accepts executor appointments on Sandton-area files and discusses fees up front rather than locking in the full tariff.

Where is the Burger Huyser Sandton branch, and what are the hours?

Block 3, 1st floor, Northdowns Office Park, 17 Georgian Crescent East, Bryanston, Sandton, 2191. Tel 011 253 3080. Open Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 4:30pm. After-hours mobile 064 555 3358 for urgent matters. The branch is co-led by Director Anna-Mi Nel, who specialises in deceased estates, divorce and High Court litigation.

If you are planning a will, settling a family trust, putting powers of attorney in place, or winding up a deceased estate in the Sandton area, contact Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Sandton branch on 011 253 3080 (after-hours mobile 064 555 3358) or visit Block 3, 1st floor, Northdowns Office Park, 17 Georgian Crescent East, Bryanston, Sandton, 2191. The branch is co-led by Director Anna-Mi Nel, who specialises in deceased estates and High Court litigation, and the firm’s wider estates practice covers basic wills, bespoke will structures with discretionary trusts, inter vivos trust formations, executor appointments, the full Master’s Office filing cycle at the Johannesburg seat, and the property-transfer leg of deceased-estate administration through the firm’s in-house notary and conveyancer. Bring your ID, marriage certificate and antenuptial contract (if applicable) and a current list of assets and liabilities to the first consultation; executor fees and estate planning fees are quoted per file after the initial meeting and discussed up front rather than estimated loosely. The firm carries a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified “Top Rated Law Firm in South Africa”) and has been recognised as Best Family Law Firm 2024 (Lawyers Monthly Legal Awards) and Family Law Firm of the Year 2024 (MEA Business Awards).