What Documents Are Needed to Report a Deceased Estate?

Reporting a deceased estate in South Africa is governed by the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965 and is filed with the Master of the High Court within 14 days of death. The reporting set is anchored on the death certificate, the original will (where one exists), the deceased’s ID, the marriage certificate and antenuptial contract (if applicable), and the IDs of heirs and beneficiaries, supported by an inventory of assets and liabilities. After reporting, the Master issues Letters of Executorship (where there is a will) or Letters of Administration (where there is not), which authorise the executor or administrator to wind up the estate. For Gauteng-based families, the file is lodged at the Master of the Gauteng Division of the High Court (Johannesburg or Pretoria seat), and a tax clearance from SARS is required before the final Liquidation and Distribution Account is approved.

The Statutory Framework and the 14-Day Reporting Window

The Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965 governs the reporting and winding up of deceased estates in South Africa. Section 4(1) requires that the death of any person be reported to the Master of the High Court within 14 days of the date of death — late reporting is an offence in itself and can stall every downstream step, from the appointment of an executor to the SARS tax-clearance.

The person who reports is normally the surviving spouse, the next of kin, or the executor nominated in the will. Filing happens at the Master’s Office that serves the area where the deceased ordinarily resided, or where the deceased owned immovable property if the two differ. The 14-day window is short, so families should start gathering the death certificate, will, and ID documents immediately rather than waiting for the funeral.

The Core Identity and Family Documents (Gather These First)

These are the documents the Master’s intake counter will ask to see before accepting the file. Get these in order first — the rest of the inventory builds on them.

Document	What the Master needs
Death certificate	Issued by Home Affairs (BI-9 in older files, DHA-1663 in newer registrations). An unabridged original or certified copy is required.
Original will and any codicils	The Master will not accept a copy. If the original cannot be located, a sworn application must explain its absence and trigger the Master’s investigation under section 4(1)(b) of the Act.
Deceased’s ID document	Original or certified copy of the most recent one, with a sworn explanation if the original is unavailable.
Marriage certificate	Required whether the deceased was married at the time of death or previously — the Master’s marital-status check is exhaustive.
Antenuptial contract	With endorsement by the Registrar of Deeds, if applicable. Determines whether the estate is governed by the accrual system (married out of community of property) or in community of property.
Divorce order	Required if the deceased was previously married — confirms the marital status at the date of death.
Birth certificates and IDs of all heirs and beneficiaries	Including minor children, who must be identified on the inventory even if they are not yet beneficiaries.
Details of the nominated executor / proposed administrator	Including that person’s ID and written willingness to act, where there is a will.

The Asset Inventory: Documents That Establish What the Estate Owns

The Master’s prescribed inventory form lists each asset at its date-of-death value. The supporting documents below feed straight into that form.

Asset category	Supporting documents
Property	Title deeds (the Master cross-checks against the Deeds Office); recent municipal valuation; for properties outside South Africa, a foreign title equivalent.
Vehicles	NaTIS / eNaTIS registration certificates.
Bank accounts	Statements as at the date of death; bank confirmation letters of balances.
Investments	Share certificates, unit-trust holdings, brokerage statements.
Insurance policies	Policy documents and confirmation letters of surrender values as at date of death (life, funeral, disability policies).
Business interests	Company share certificates, partnership agreements, memoranda of incorporation, and (where the deceased was the sole director/member) the company’s financial statements.
Loans and debts owed to the deceased	Promissory notes, loan agreements, and acknowledgments of debt.

The Liability Side: Documents That Establish What the Estate Owes

The asset side of an estate tells only half the story. The Master and SARS both need to see what the estate owes as at the date of death before they will sign off on the Liquidation and Distribution Account.

• List of creditors with names, addresses, and amounts owing as at date of death.
• Mortgage bond statements over any property in the estate.
• Credit-card statements showing balance as at date of death.
• SARS tax reference — the deceased’s income tax number and the IT (estate) number that will be allocated to the estate after first reporting.
• Medical and hospital accounts if the deceased was hospitalised before death.
• Funeral account — not strictly a creditor for estate duty purposes, but commonly included for completeness.

Documents Required in Special Circumstances

Some estates trigger additional documents on top of the standard set. Pulling these in early avoids the Master’s office holding the file while the family locates them.

Situation	Additional documents
Unnatural death (accident, suicide, homicide)	SAPS case docket; Form BI-1663 (Notice of Death) in addition to the standard DHA-1663 death certificate.
Foreign assets or foreign-domiciled heirs	SAQA-recognised translations of foreign documents; for inheritance by foreign heirs, exchange-control documentation.
Trusts where the deceased was a trustee or beneficiary	Trust deed and the latest trust financials.
Matrimonial property disputes at death	A court order confirming accrual or another marital claim may be required before the Master issues letters.
Where the deceased was a minor	Parents’ IDs and birth certificates of the minor.

Where and How to File the Reporting Set

Filing is made at the Master of the High Court that serves the area where the deceased ordinarily resided (or where the deceased owned immovable property, where that differs). For Gauteng-based families this is the Master of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, which sits at both the Johannesburg seat (for southern Gauteng, including Johannesburg, Soweto, Roodepoort, and the West Rand) and the Pretoria seat (for northern Gauteng, including Pretoria, Centurion, and the east). Each seat runs its own intake counter, so families file at the seat that matches the deceased’s last residential address — or the seat where the immovable property sits, where the two differ. The Master’s appointment of an executor or administrator, the issue of Letters of Executorship or Letters of Administration, and the approval of the final Liquidation and Distribution Account all happen at that same seat.

Most Master’s Offices accept paper filings in person; some reportable steps can be initiated through the Master’s online deceased estate workflow on the Department of Justice e-Services portal, but the original will and supporting documents still have to be lodged in person. Initial reporting forms typically include the J190 series (Master’s reporting forms) plus a cover sheet identifying the executor or next-of-kin reporter.

For Gauteng-based families who would rather have the document set reviewed before lodging, Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Wills & Estates practice runs deceased estate administration from its Linden head office (49 First Avenue, Linden, Randburg, tel 011 888 0246), with a dedicated Deceased Estate Administrator (Lance Pearson) coordinating the reporting, the Master’s appointment, and the SARS tax-clearance steps. The firm’s branches across Gauteng (Roodepoort, Sandton, Pretoria/Menlyn, Bedfordview, Centurion, Alberton, and Midrand) can act as the first point of contact where the executor or administrator lives outside Randburg.

After Reporting: What the Master Issues

Once the reporting set is accepted, the Master moves to appointment. The outcome depends on whether the deceased left a valid will.

• Letters of Executorship — issued where there is a valid will and a nominated executor who accepts the appointment; authorise the executor to act.
• Letters of Administration — issued where there is no will, or where the nominated executor is unable or unwilling to act; the Master’s office nominates an administrator (commonly a family member, or an attorney or registered estate practitioner) under section 18 of the Act.

The Master’s appointment is published in the Government Gazette, and that publication triggers the formal creditor-vouching period. Until those letters issue, no one has legal authority to deal with the deceased’s bank accounts, policies, or property — which is why the 14-day reporting window matters so much in practice.

Tax-Clearance and Final-Account Steps (Where Documents Resurface)

The reporting inventory does double duty at SARS. The executor or administrator files the IT (estate) return with SARS, and the SARS-specific tax-clearance application requires the Master’s appointment letter plus a draft Liquidation and Distribution Account. Estate duty is assessed above the R3.5 million abatement under the Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955 as amended; SARS issues the tax clearance (commonly called the “compliance letter”) once the estate duty position is settled.

The Master will not approve the final Liquidation and Distribution Account without the SARS tax clearance — so the file stalls at this exact point if any of the underlying asset or liability documents is incomplete. For most families, this is where the difference between a six-month winding-up and an eighteen-month one shows up: tidy inventory at the reporting stage means tidy SARS processing later.

Common Mistakes That Stall the File

The Master’s intake counter sees the same avoidable errors on a recurring basis. Keep the file moving by sidestepping each of these.

• Filing an uncertified or expired copy of the deceased’s ID.
• Omitting one of multiple spouses or heirs from the family-tree document.
• Submitting a copy of the will without the original — the Master must see the original.
• Failing to include foreign assets (the Master cross-checks against SARS’ common reporting framework).
• Skipping the SAPS docket on unnatural deaths — the Master’s office will hold the file until it is produced.
• Attaching bank statements dated well after the date of death, which distort the inventory values.

Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Linden head office reviews each reporting set on the way to the Master’s seat so that misfiled items surface before they reach the intake counter and force a second trip.

Reporting a deceased estate is procedurally dense — the document list is long, the 14-day window is unforgiving, and a single missing item stalls the file at the Master. Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Wills & Estates practice, with a dedicated Deceased Estate Administrator (Lance Pearson) on staff, handles the reporting and Master’s appointment on behalf of families across Gauteng. To start, contact the Linden head office on 011 888 0246 (after-hours 061 516 6878) or visit 49 First Avenue, Linden, Randburg, 2195, with the death certificate, the original will (where one exists), the deceased’s ID, and the marriage certificate; the firm will confirm the rest of the document set and the Master’s seat for the filing. The firm carries a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified “Top Rated Law Firm in South Africa”) and is admitted to handle deceased estate administration across the Gauteng Master’s seats.