If the person who died lived in Cape Town or the Western Cape districts it serves, their deceased estate must be reported to the Master of the High Court, Cape Town.
Here's everything to know before you go, address, numbers, documents, and the one detail about opening hours that catches people out.
Local Master's Office guide
Before you visit the Cape Town office, get the address, documents, and follow-up plan clear
A complete lodgement pack and written follow-up trail matter more than repeated trips to the counter.
- Confirm jurisdiction: the office depends on where the deceased ordinarily lived.
- Bring the estate pack: death notice, death certificate, will, inventory, and ID documents.
- Use the estate number: quote it on every follow-up.
- Keep proof: written queries and responses move files faster than verbal promises.
Contact details
Cape Town Master's Office contact details
- Physical address: Dullah Omar Building, 45 Castle Street, Cape Town
- Postal address: Private Bag X9018, Cape Town, 8000
- Telephone: 021 832 3000
- Guardian's Fund enquiries: 021 832 3014
- Public hours: 08h00, 13h00
Details as published by the Department of Justice; always confirm before travelling.
Local detail
The detail that catches people out
The Cape Town office serves the public in the mornings only, 08h00 to 13h00.
Arrive at 12h30 with a long query, and you're coming back tomorrow. Treat every visit as a morning appointment: arrive at opening, documents in hand, and you'll usually be helped the same day.
Jurisdiction and services
What this office handles
- Deceased estates of people who ordinarily lived in Cape Town and surrounds
- Letters of Executorship (estates over R250,000) and Letters of Authority (R250,000 and under), full guide
- Trust registrations for the region (how trust registration works)
- Guardian's Fund matters for minors and untraced heirs
Document pack
Documents to bring when reporting an estate
- Death notice (J294)
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- The original will (if there is one)
- Inventory of assets (J243)
- Acceptance of trust as executor (J190), two signed copies
- Certified copy of the executor's ID
- Marriage certificate / antenuptial contract details
- Next-of-kin affidavit (J192) if there's no will
Each document explained: the complete Master of the High Court guide
What to expect
What to expect at the Cape Town office
Cape Town is a high-volume office covering a huge economic region. The pattern from thousands of estates:
- Complete packs get appointed. Incomplete packs get query sheets, and each query costs weeks.
- Property-heavy estates take longer. The Cape's property values mean more estates over the R250,000 line, more formal executorships, more conveyancing to coordinate.
- Follow-up wins. Files that get chased, move. Files that wait politely, wait.
Handled for you
Or let us handle the Cape Town estate process
Wills & Trust deals with the Master's offices every working day. For Cape Town estates we prepare the complete lodgement, submit, chase queries, coordinate the property transfers, and give your family a dedicated case manager with one phone number.
Quick answers
Questions about the Cape Town Master's Office
Where is the Master of the High Court in Cape Town?
Dullah Omar Building, 45 Castle Street, Cape Town.
What are the office hours?
08h00 to 13h00 for the public, mornings only.
How do I contact the Guardian's Fund in Cape Town?
021 832 3014, with the estate number and the minor's details ready.
Which office handles estates from elsewhere in the Western Cape?
Cape Town serves its designated districts; confirm jurisdiction for outlying areas before lodging, reporting at the wrong office adds delay.
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