What is a Deceased Estate and How Should It Be Reported?

A deceased estate is the body of property, liabilities, rights and obligations left behind by a person who has died — including any will, the proceeds of life policies not nominated to a living beneficiary and any rights or obligations that survive the deceased. In South Africa, every death must be reported to the Master of the High Court within 14 days of the date of death under section 7 of the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965, by any person who has possession or control of any property forming part of the estate, or who is responsible for administering any part of it. The Master retains jurisdiction over every estate with a gross value above R250,000 and over every estate in which a will has been lodged (regardless of value), and once the report is filed the Master issues either letters of executorship (where a valid will names an executor) or letters of administration (where there is no will or no executor is named), authorising the appointed representative to wind up the estate.

What a Deceased Estate Actually Is

A deceased estate is not just the will or the assets the family can see — it is the complete set of property, liabilities, rights and obligations that survive the deceased as a legal matter. Once a person dies, every asset they owned and every debt they owed enters the estate; the estate is the legal vehicle through which those assets are collected, those debts settled and the residue distributed to the heirs.

What falls into the estate:

• Assets in the deceased’s sole name at the date of death (immovable property, vehicles, bank accounts, shares, investments, personal effects).
• The deceased’s share of joint property — where property is jointly held, the extent of the deceased’s share depends on the matrimonial property regime (in community of property, out of community of property, or out of community with the accrual system) and on whether the asset falls within marriage-in-community, marriage-out-of-community, or accrual treatment.
• Life policies and pension fund benefits where no living beneficiary has been nominated, or where the nomination is to the estate itself.
• Any claims the deceased could have pursued — including a claim under the Road Accident Fund, a claim against a third party, or a claim under a shareholders’ agreement.

What does not fall into the estate (because it passes directly to a nominated beneficiary):

• Life policies and pension fund benefits with a valid beneficiary nomination to a living person — the proceeds are paid directly to that beneficiary and never form part of the estate.
• Trust property where the deceased was only a trustee (the trust assets are not owned by the deceased).
• Any asset with a valid beneficiary designation written into the instrument itself — for example, a unit trust investment with a nominated beneficiary.

The estate of a minor child is treated separately under the Act and reported to the Master through the child’s parent or legal guardian; the Master’s supervisory function applies, but the intestate distribution rules under the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 are tailored to that scenario.

The Legal Framework That Governs Reporting

The reporting obligation sits inside a small network of statutes. The reporting duty itself is statutory, the appointment that follows is statutory, and the estate duty that follows the appointment is calculated under a separate but adjacent Act. The four pieces of legislation a family will encounter in any straightforward deceased estate are:

Statute	What it governs in this context
Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965	The reporting duty (section 7), the Master’s appointment of executors, Master’s supervision of winding-up and the distribution process.
Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955	The SARS-side estate duty calculation and the estate duty return (Form D-E) filed by the executor.
Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987	Who inherits where the deceased left no valid will.
Wills Act 7 of 1953	What counts as a valid will, and the rules for altering or revoking one.

Day-to-day practice is shaped by regulations issued under section 103 of the Administration of Estates Act, which prescribe the forms, the security-and-bond procedures and the Master’s-office processes the Act relies on. The Master is not the executor — the Master is the statutory supervisor of the administration, and every significant step (lodging the will, appointing the executor, authorising the liquidation and distribution account, releasing the residue) requires the Master’s authorisation.

Who Must Report the Death

Section 7 of the Administration of Estates Act places the reporting duty on a broad class of persons: anyone who, at the date of death, had possession or control of any property forming part of the estate, or who was responsible for administering any part of it. That wording is wide enough to reach surviving spouses, adult children, joint account holders, employers holding final-salary assets and creditors in possession of estate assets — not only the executor named in the will.

In practice, the report is most commonly lodged by:

• the surviving spouse,
• an adult child of the deceased,
• the executor nominated in the will, or
• a deceased estate practitioner (typically an attorney) instructed by the family.

Failure to report within 14 days is an offence under section 7(2) read with section 35 of the Act. Enforcement is inconsistent, but the more common consequence of a delayed report is practical: the family’s first appointment at the Master’s office runs slower than it would have done, because the Master requires the delay to be explained before proceeding.

Where to Report: The Master’s Regional Jurisdiction

The Master of the High Court has an office at every seat of a division of the High Court, and the death report is filed at the Master’s office for the division in which the deceased was ordinarily resident at the date of death. For non-residents who owned immovable property in South Africa, the report is filed where the immovable property is registered.

For Gauteng-based estates, the two practical filing venues are the Pretoria Master and the Johannesburg Master, each sitting at its seat of the Gauteng Division of the High Court.

Filing venue	Deceased’s ordinary residence at date of death
Master of the High Court, Pretoria (corner Paul Kruger and Pretorius Streets, Pretoria)	Tshwane region: Pretoria, Centurion, Pretoria East, Hatfield, the northern Gauteng corridor and the surrounding rural districts.
Master of the High Court, Johannesburg (66 Albert Street, Marshalltown)	Johannesburg, Randburg, Sandton, Roodepoort, Soweto, and the southern and western Gauteng areas.

Once a file is opened at one Master’s office, the executor deals with that office for the entire winding-up process. There is no informal transfer between the Pretoria and Johannesburg offices, and a family whose deceased ordinarily resided in Johannesburg should not file at the Pretoria office for convenience of access — the Pretoria office will return the file and the appointment will slip.

When to Report: The 14-Day Window and What Happens If You Miss It

Section 7 of the Act requires the report to be lodged within 14 days of the date of death. That is a strict statutory deadline, not a guideline. Counting the day of death as day one, the report must reach the correct Master’s office by the close of business on day 14.

Reporting after the 14-day window is allowed but requires either:

• an affidavit explaining the delay, supported by documentary evidence — for example, a police report where the death was sudden and unexplained, or a hospital record where the family needed time to confirm arrangements — or
• a formal condonation application, where the delay is longer and the reasons are more complex.

The Master’s approach to late reports varies by office. The Johannesburg Master is generally more lenient with documented delays than the Pretoria Master, but neither will entertain a habitual late reporter. Practically, a family that delays past 14 days should expect the first appointment to take longer than a clean report would have, because the Master will want the explanation on file before issuing letters.

How to Report the Death: Step by Step

The procedure below assumes a representative adult family member or a practitioner is lodging the report on the family’s behalf. The steps, in order, are:

1. Obtain certified copies of the death certificate. At least three to five certified copies are usually needed — one for the Master, one for SARS, and additional copies for banks, insurers and pension funds. Each institution typically requires its own certified copy.
2. Locate the original will. Where the deceased left a will, the signed original must be lodged with the Master. A photocopy or a draft is not acceptable for lodgement, and the Master will refuse to appoint an executor named in a copy will. If the original cannot be located within the 14-day window, the will must be tracked down — see Documents the Master Requires below.
3. Complete Form J190 (the prescribed death report). Form J190 is available from any Master’s office or from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development website. The form requires the deceased’s full particulars, the surviving spouse’s particulars, the matrimonial property regime, the names and ID numbers of the heirs, and a working inventory of known assets.
4. Compile the supporting documents. See the document checklist in the next section.
5. Lodge at the correct Master’s office. Lodge physically at the Master’s filing desk, or — where the office supports it — through the DOJ&CD online deceased estate reporting portal. The Pretoria and Johannesburg Master’s offices both operate the online portal alongside the physical filing desk.
6. Pay the Master’s filing fee. The fee is set under Government Notice and updated periodically; payment is by cash or EFT at the filing desk depending on the office.
7. Receive the Master’s file number. The Master’s office assigns a file number once the report is processed. That number is the reference used on every subsequent filing through the administration, including the executor appointment, the liquidation and distribution account and the SARS estate duty return.

Documents the Master Requires for the Death Report

The standard document set for a death report at the Master’s office is:

Document	Purpose
Certified copy of the death certificate (BI-9 or equivalent issued by Home Affairs)	Confirms the date of death and the identity of the deceased.
ID copy of the deceased (or passport if the deceased was a foreign national resident in South Africa)	Confirms identity and ID number for the Master file.
Original will (if any)	The Master requires the signed original — copies are not accepted for lodgement.
Form J190, completed in full and signed by the reporting person	The prescribed death report.
Marriage certificate and/or antenuptial contract	Required to determine the matrimonial property regime and the spouse’s share.
Birth certificates of any minor heirs	Confirms age and identity of minor beneficiaries.
ID copies of the surviving spouse, the heirs and the proposed executor	Standard FICA-style identification for the Master’s file.
Inventory of known assets and liabilities at the date of death	A working list is sufficient at death-report stage — a formal, sworn inventory follows once the executor is appointed.

Where a couple married abroad, the foreign marriage certificate typically needs additional documentation from the relevant foreign jurisdiction before the Master’s office will recognise the matrimonial property regime. That extra step is one of the most common sources of delay in cross-border estates.

After the Report: Letters of Executorship or Administration

Once the report is filed and the Master’s office has processed it, the Master convenes an appointment — usually within four to eight weeks of a clean report. The appointment is a brief sitting at which the proposed representative is interviewed and the estate file is opened.

Two outcomes are possible, depending on whether there is a valid will:

• Letters of executorship are issued where there is a valid will naming an executor, and the named executor is willing and able to act. Where the named executor cannot act (or where the will is silent on a successor), the Master may issue letters to a qualified alternative — often a surviving spouse, an adult child, or a practitioner nominated by the family.
• Letters of administration are issued where there is no valid will, no executor is named, or the named executor is unable to serve. The Master appoints an heir (or a nominee of the heirs) to administer under the Intestate Succession Act.

Both sets of letters authorise the appointed representative to deal with the deceased’s bank accounts, insurance policies, pension fund benefits, immovable property and other estate assets. Without the letters, third parties (banks, insurers, the deeds office, the pension fund administrator) will not release or transfer the deceased’s assets. This is the practical reason why the appointment step matters and why a clean, on-time death report keeps the administration moving.

Estate Duty and the SARS-Side Reporting

Once appointed, the executor files an estate duty return (Form D-E) with SARS within one year of the date of death. An extension may be requested on Form D-E(EXT) before the year expires if the administration is not yet complete — for example, where immovable property has not yet been sold or a claim is still being resolved.

Estate duty is governed by the Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955 and is calculated on the net dutiable estate after deducting liabilities, the R3.5 million primary abatement under section 4A and any permitted deductions — including qualifying bequests to a surviving spouse and bequests to approved public benefit organisations.

Item	Position under the Estate Duty Act
Governing statute	Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955
Return	Estate duty return (Form D-E) filed with SARS within 12 months of date of death; extension on Form D-E(EXT)
Primary abatement	R3,500,000 (section 4A)
Duty rate	20% on the dutiable amount; 25% on the portion above R30 million
Common deductions	Liabilities at date of death, qualifying bequests to a surviving spouse, bequests to approved public benefit organisations
Payment	Estate duty is paid before the Master will issue a final liquidation and distribution account

Estates with a net dutiable value below the R3.5 million abatement generally have no estate duty liability, but the executor still files the estate duty return. SARS issues an assessment once the return is processed; the duty must be paid before the Master will issue the final liquidation and distribution account, and unpaid estate duty carries interest under the Public Finance Management Act framework.

Conflating the Master’s reporting (which appoints the executor) with the SARS reporting (which assesses estate duty) is one of the most common pitfalls families encounter. These are two separate filings in two separate offices with two separate sets of forms and two separate deadlines.

Common Pitfalls in Reporting (and How to Avoid Them)

Reporting a deceased estate to the Master is, in most cases, an administratively detailed exercise rather than a legally contested one. The pitfalls are practical, not doctrinal, and they fall into a small number of recurring categories.

Pitfall	What goes wrong	How to avoid it
Filing at the wrong Master’s office	The Master’s office returns the file to the reporting person, costing weeks.	Confirm the deceased’s ordinary residence at the date of death before lodging; Pretoria for Tshwane-region estates, Johannesburg for southern/western Gauteng estates.
Lodging a copy of the will	The Master will not appoint an executor named in a copy.	Track down the signed original before lodging; a copy lodged with a confirmation that the original is “with the family attorney” is not accepted.
Underestimating the time to gather supporting documents	Particularly problematic where couples married abroad and the foreign marriage certificate needs additional documentation.	Start gathering marriage certificates, antenuptial contracts and birth certificates before the death report is lodged.
Treating the 14-day deadline as a guideline	Late reports trigger Master’s scrutiny and slow the first appointment.	Lodge by day 14 — a clean report is faster than a justified late report.
Notifying banks before the executor is appointed	Banks freeze the deceased’s accounts on notice of death, and a family member cannot draw on those accounts without the executor’s letters.	Hold all bank notifications until the executor appointment; coordinate the timing through the appointed representative.
Conflating Master’s reporting with SARS reporting	Two separate filings, in two offices, with separate forms — filing the wrong return at the wrong office wastes time.	Treat the Master’s process and the SARS estate duty process as parallel but distinct tracks.

Deceased Estate Reporting in Gauteng: Pretoria and Johannesburg Master’s Offices

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a deceased estate in South Africa?

A deceased estate is the body of property, liabilities, rights and obligations left by a person who has died. It includes the will, the assets in the deceased’s sole name, the deceased’s share of joint property (depending on the matrimonial property regime) and any rights or obligations that survive the deceased. Assets that pass outside the estate by valid beneficiary nomination — for example a life policy with a living beneficiary — do not form part of the estate, but the gross estate value still determines whether the Master has jurisdiction.

How long do you have to report a deceased estate to the Master?

Section 7 of the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965 requires the death to be reported to the Master of the High Court within 14 days of the date of death. Reporting after the 14-day window requires an affidavit explaining the delay and supporting documentation. The Master’s approach to late reports varies by office, and a delayed first report generally slows the executor appointment.

Which Master’s office should a deceased estate be reported to?

The Master’s office is determined by where the deceased was ordinarily resident at the date of death, or, for non-residents, where the deceased owned immovable property in South Africa. In Gauteng, estates of persons resident in the Tshwane region (including Centurion and Pretoria) file at the Pretoria Master, and estates of persons resident in Johannesburg, Sandton, Randburg, Roodepoort and the surrounding southern and western Gauteng areas file at the Johannesburg Master.

What documents are required to report a deceased estate?

A certified copy of the death certificate, the deceased’s ID, the surviving spouse’s and heirs’ IDs, the marriage certificate and/or antenuptial contract, birth certificates of minor heirs, the original will (if one exists) and a completed Form J190 death report. Most reports are now also lodged through the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development online deceased estate reporting portal alongside the physical filing.

What is the difference between letters of executorship and letters of administration?

Letters of executorship are issued by the Master to an executor named in a valid will (or to a qualified alternative if the named executor cannot serve). Letters of administration are issued where there is no valid will, no executor is named or the named executor cannot serve, and the Master appoints an heir or nominee of the heirs to administer under the Intestate Succession Act. Both authorise the appointed representative to deal with the deceased’s bank accounts, insurance policies, pension fund benefits and other estate assets; without them, third parties will not release or transfer the deceased’s assets.

Do you have to pay estate duty on every deceased estate?

No. Estate duty under the Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955 is calculated on the net dutiable estate after the R3.5 million primary abatement (section 4A) and permitted deductions (qualifying bequests to a surviving spouse, public benefit organisations and the like). Estates with a net dutiable value below R3.5 million generally have no estate duty liability, although the executor still files an estate duty return with SARS within one year of the date of death (an extension may be requested on Form D-E(EXT)).

Can a family member administer the deceased estate without an attorney?

A family member can apply for letters of administration personally where there is no valid will and the estate is not complex, but the Master will not generally appoint a non-executive family member where the estate includes immovable property, business interests or potential claims disputes. Most estates above R250,000 in gross value are administered by an attorney or deceased estate practitioner because the executor’s duties — lodging the will, drafting the liquidation and distribution account, obtaining Master’s approval and filing the SARS estate duty return — are technical and time-bound, and errors expose the executor personally.

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