When someone dies, their money doesn't simply move to their family.
Everything they owned, the house, the bank accounts, the car, the pension money, even the furniture, becomes a deceased estate. And a deceased estate is frozen until someone is legally appointed to unwind it.
That process is called estate administration (or "winding up" the estate), it's supervised by the Master of the High Court, and for most families it takes 7 to 12 months for a simple estate, often longer.
This guide walks you through every step, what it costs, and how to avoid the delays that trap thousands of estates every year.
Estate administration roadmap
What your family is actually waiting for
The estate is frozen until the right person is appointed, the creditors are called, SARS is handled, and the Master accepts the final account.
- First appointment: report the estate and get executor authority.
- Money movement: open the estate account, collect assets, pay debts and tax.
- Final accounting: prepare the L&D account and wait through inspection.
- Distribution: transfer property, pay heirs, and close the file.
First: what exactly is a deceased estate?
Simple definition: a deceased estate is everything a person owned and owed at the date of their death.
Assets on one side (property, cash, investments, vehicles, belongings). Debts on the other (bond, credit cards, tax, funeral costs). The job of estate administration is to:
- Collect the assets,
- Pay the debts and taxes,
- Distribute what's left to the heirs, either according to the will, or according to the Intestate Succession Act if there isn't one.
The person legally responsible for all of this is the executor. (Full breakdown of that role here: What is an executor?)
Winding-up timeline
The winding-up process, step by step
Step 1
Report the estate to the Master (within 14 days)
The estate must be reported to the Master of the High Court, the Master's Office recommends within 14 days of death. The reporting documents include:
- Death notice (form J294)
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- The original will (if there is one)
- Inventory of assets (form J243)
- Acceptance of executorship (form J190)
- Marriage certificate / details of the marital regime
Miss a document, and the Master issues a query instead of an appointment. This is delay #1 for most families.
Step 2
The Master appoints the executor
- Estate worth more than R250,000? The Master issues Letters of Executorship, the legal authority to act.
- Estate worth R250,000 or less? A simpler route: Letters of Authority under section 18(3), with far less formality.
We wrote a full guide on the difference (and the templates you'll need): Letters of Executorship explained
One catch worth knowing: if a private individual (say, a family member) is appointed executor, the Master usually requires them to furnish security, a bond of security for the estate's value, unless the will exempts them or a professional is appointed. That bond costs money every year the estate stays open.
Step 3
Advertise for creditors (Section 29)
The executor places a notice in the Government Gazette and a local newspaper giving creditors 30 days to lodge claims. Only after this window closes does the executor know the estate's true debt picture.
Step 4
Open an estate account, collect assets, settle debts
The executor opens an estate late account, redirects income into it, values the assets, deals with SARS (income tax to date of death, plus the estate's own taxes, see our estate duty guide), and pays legitimate claims.
Step 5
The Liquidation & Distribution (L&D) account
This is the estate's full financial statement: every asset, every liability, every fee, and exactly who inherits what. It's due at the Master within 6 months of the executor's appointment (extensions can be requested, and often are).
Step 6
The account lies open for inspection (Section 35)
Once the Master approves the L&D account, it's advertised and lies open for inspection at the Magistrate's Court for 21 days, so anyone with an objection can raise it.
Step 7
Distribution and closure
No objections? Debts and taxes are paid, property is transferred, heirs receive their inheritances, and the Master issues a filing slip closing the estate.
Estate costs
What does estate administration cost?
The big one is the executor's fee: the prescribed tariff is 3.5% of the gross value of the estate assets, plus VAT (an effective 4.025%), plus 6% on income earned by the estate after death (rent, interest, dividends).
On a R2,000,000 estate, that's up to R80,500 in executor's fees alone, before conveyancing fees, Master's fees, advertising, and the security bond.
Two things every family should know:
- The fee is a maximum, not a law of nature. It's negotiable, especially when you nominate your executor in your will, while you still have all the bargaining power.
- The fee can be planned for. Our estate plan includes an insurance solution designed to cover winding-up costs, so the fees don't come out of your family's inheritance.
Where delays happen
Why estates get stuck, and how ours do not
Ask anyone who's wound up an estate and they'll tell you the same story: queries from the Master, documents lost in the queue, months of silence.
That's why every Wills & Trust estate gets a dedicated case manager, one person your family can actually phone, who deals with the Master's Office daily, chases every query, and keeps the file moving from report to distribution.
You don't need to learn this process. You need someone who's done it hundreds of times.
Quick answers
Questions families ask while winding up an estate
How long does it take to wind up a deceased estate in South Africa?
A simple estate typically takes 7-12 months from reporting to distribution. Estates with property, businesses, SARS complications or missing documents commonly run 18 months or more.
Who winds up an estate if there is no will?
The Master appoints an executor, usually nominated by the heirs at a family meeting. The estate is then distributed under the Intestate Succession Act.
What if the estate is worth less than R250,000?
The Master issues Letters of Authority under section 18(3) instead of Letters of Executorship, a faster, cheaper process where a representative (often a family member) can distribute the estate without formal L&D accounting.
Can the family use the deceased's bank account?
No, banks freeze accounts on notification of death. Money only flows again through the estate late account opened by the appointed executor. (This is why immediate-expense planning matters so much.)
What does an executor charge?
Up to 3.5% + VAT on gross assets, plus 6% on post-death income. Negotiable, negotiate it in your will, not at the funeral.
Ready to put this in place?
Give your family a clearer administration path
A dedicated case manager can help your family prepare documents, track the Master’s Office process, and reduce avoidable delays.
Book an estate administration call
