14.Jul.2017 | Wills
Have you been through any of the following life changes recently? Divorce? Marriage? Lost a loved one? Had a baby? Bought or sold a house? Changed jobs? Retired? Changing circumstances may have negative effects on the outcome of your Will. In order to prevent unnecessary heartache caused by an outdated Will, you need to review your Will regularly to make sure that the legal, tax and practical implications are in line with your current situation and intentions. Our Will service includes: Drawing up your Will taking into account your unique circumstances and all relevant legislation, tax, and practical... read more
08.Jul.2017 | Trusts
The law requires all trustees to act independently and impartially. In most family trust setups the founder, trustees, and beneficiaries are all related to one another and act in more than one capacity (being a beneficiary and trustee). In a setup like this, it can be very difficult for the trustees to act independently and impartially. This can defeat the purpose of the establishment of the trust and can leave the trust open to an attack as a sham or an invalid trust. In order to reduce the risk of trust assets being regarded as your personal assets,... read more
08.May.2017 | Estate Planning
WHEN THERE WAS A SECOND MARRIAGE Can the inheritance of children from the first marriage be protected? By Hein Klokow, Estate Specialist The question is sometimes asked: Can a spouse from a second marriage walk away with all the assets from your estate, even though you have bequeathed everything to your children from the first marriage? In the normal scheme of things, it might happen that a person (the testator) marries again after the death of his first wife. This might cast doubts in the minds of his children. They might wonder what might happen to all the assets... read more
22.Apr.2017 | Estate Planning
The right thing to do? The purpose of the Accrual System is to create fairness between spouses, especially in the old traditional homes where the wife is running the household, allowing her husband to build up wealth and to support the family as a whole. This is accomplished by, on the dissolution of the marriage (by death of divorce), dividing the value of the assets obtained during the marriage in equal shares between them. This means that the husband and wife will share equally in the profits of their marriage. With a financial agreement this fair and equitable between... read more
11.Apr.2017 | Estate Planning, Wills
So many South Africans today are living together as man and wife without getting married and this occurrence almost doubles each year. The aim of this article is to look at the rights of a surviving partner at death. Currently in South Africa, there is no law regulating the rights of partners in a common law partnership. This means that you are not automatically seen as the spouse of your partner. The South African courts have on occasion come to the assistance of couples in the form of a universal partnership. This subject does not form part of our... read more
08.Mar.2017 | News
The consequence of section 7C is that the difference between the interest rate charged and the official interest rate of 8% on a loan made by a connected person to a trust will be treated as an ongoing and annual donation on the last day of the tax year and will be subject to donations tax at a rate of 20%. The Explanatory Memorandum of the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill issued by SARS on 15 December 2016 explains the thinking of SARS relating to loans created by the vesting of awards in a beneficiary without paying such awards to... read more
