We are receiving an increasing number of queries for assistance with wills where clients have assets outside of South Africa.<\/p>\n
Regarding offshore assets, we recommend in all instances that clients have separate wills in each territory in which they hold assets. An attorney\/solicitor in the territory outside of South Africa should be consulted to prepare the necessary will dealing with assets outside of South Africa. The client\u2019s will prepared by our offices should ideally specify that it is in respect of their South African estate only, but if this is not specified, the will is automatically what we deem a \u2018worldwide\u2019 will.<\/p>\n
If the will we prepare doesn\u2019t refer to any specific territory (e.g. South Africa), the client can subsequently prepare a will in the \u2018other\u2019 territory\/ies, referring to that territory only, which would automatically supersede the (worldwide) will signed with us.<\/p>\n
This is advised for a number of reasons, including the sake of expediency, estate costs, and to ensure that clients receive proper advice regarding estate planning in other regions in which they hold assets, as we are not au fait<\/em> with estate laws or administration processes in other countries. As such, we cannot advise on taxes, automatic succession (forced heirship) if applicable, or estate peculiarities to be aware of.<\/p>\n Furthermore, it is simply not possible to administer estates in other countries as estate processes differ vastly from country to country, the local court must be consulted, and attendance in person is to some degree always required to lodge documents.<\/p>\n Additionally, in the absence of separate wills, grave delays will be caused in estate administration. Estates spanning multiple areas generally take 3 years and up to 5 years, or longer, as the South African estate would have to get to a certain point (which takes approximately 8\u201312 months) before the \u2018offshore\u2019 estate(s) could be commenced. That estate would then run, and ultimately marry up with South Africa at the end. Furthermore, various court-sealed, notarised, and apostilled documents would be required throughout the administration process, incurring further estate charges and causing constant delays.<\/p>\n As such, we recommend that clients arrange for a separate will in other territories in which they hold assets, if applicable. They can do this via Zoom or email, and their \u2018South African\u2019 will, which our offices may prepare and sign with the client, should ideally refer to their South African estate only (if not, it will be superseded by their subsequent \u2018other territory\u2019 will, as outlined above).<\/p>\n