Estate Planning: Wills, Trusts & Administration
Presenters : Dwight Snyman
Overview
Estate planning in South Africa is often approached as a document-driven exercise, yet in practice it is a complex risk-management process that intersects with succession law, trust law, tax, administration realities, and institutional oversight. Poorly aligned wills, misused trust structures, and inadequate consideration of post-death administration frequently result in delays, disputes, increased costs, and professional exposure.
This webinar reframes estate planning as an integrated legal and administrative discipline, focusing not only on drafting instruments, but on how those instruments function in reality after death. Particular attention is given to executor liability, Master of the High Court processes, beneficiary disputes, and the growing scrutiny by SARS and the courts.
Join Adv. Dwight Snyman as he provides a practical and legally grounded examination of wills, trusts, and estate administration, highlighting common risk areas, structural misalignments, and best-practice approaches for practitioners operating in this space.
Learning objectives
Attending this webinar will equip you with the following skills:
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Understand estate planning as a risk-allocation and risk-mitigation process
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Identify vulnerabilities in wills and trust structures that lead to post-death disputes
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Analyse the interaction between testamentary instruments, trusts, and estate administration
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Assess executor powers, duties, and personal liability exposure
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Apply best-practice principles to ensure estate plans are practical, defensible, and executable
Content
The webinar will cover the following topics:
• Foundations of Estate Planning Risk in South African Law
o Estate planning as a risk-management exercise
o False certainty in estate planning
o Formal validity versus functional efficacy
o Divergence between client intention and legal outcome
• Testamentary Instruments: Drafting, Interpretation, and Vulnerability
o Compliance with the Wills Act and testamentary capacity
o Interpretation risks, ambiguity, and conditional bequests
o Substitution clauses, lapsing, ademption, massing, and revocation
o Drafting choices and executor discretion
• Trust Structures in an Estate Planning Context
o Legal nature of inter vivos and testamentary trusts
o Trustee powers, fiduciary duties, and Master oversight
o Control risks, de facto trusteeship, and compliance failures
o SARS and judicial scrutiny of trust structures
• Interaction Between Wills and Trusts
o Pour-over provisions and funding mechanics
o Vesting versus discretionary trusts
o Timing, liquidity implications, and coordination risks
• Estate Administration Process and Institutional Reality
o Reporting of estates and appointment of executors
o Letters of Executorship or Authority
o Liquidation and distribution accounts
o Practical delays and compliance bottlenecks at the Master’s Office
• Executor Functions, Powers, and Liability
o Fiduciary duties and statutory obligations
o Remuneration, conflicts of interest, and discretionary powers
o Personal liability and beneficiary disputes
• Master of the High Court: Oversight and Practical Constraints
o Interpretative discretion and documentary requirements
o Rejection risks and inconsistent practice
o Impact on timelines and costs
• Taxation in Deceased Estates and Trusts
o Estate duty and capital gains tax on death
o Income tax during estate administration
o Trust taxation post-death and liquidity planning
o SARS compliance sequencing
• Beneficiary Rights, Disputes, and Litigation Risk
o Challenges to testamentary validity
o Interpretation disputes and family provision claims
o Objections to liquidation and distribution accounts
• Professional Risk and Duty of Care in Estate Planning Practice
o Advisory scope and negligence exposure
o Outdated structures and failure to recommend review
o Holistic versus instrumental advice
• Periodic Review and Structural Reassessment
o Legislative change and evolving jurisprudence
o Changes in family composition and asset structures
o Estate planning as an ongoing professional obligation
• Best-Practice Integration of Drafting, Advice, and Administration
o Integrated planning methodologies
o Alignment between documentation and administrative reality
o Ensuring estate plans remain efficient, defensible, and executable