Summary Law of Succession, ISBN: 9781485108559 Law Of Succession 273 (Private Law 273)
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Law Of Succession 273 (PRIVATELAW273)
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Stellenbosch University (SUN)
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Law of succession
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LAW OF SUCCESSION - Learning unit 6:The Administration of Deceased Estates
LAW OF SUCCESSION - LEARNING UNIT 5: Joint/Mutual Wills, Adiation/Repudiation/Election, Massing of Estates and Accrual, Succession by Contract; Interpretation and Rectification of Wills
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Law Of Succession 273 (PRIVATELAW273)
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Law of Succession ............................................................................................................................................................. 3
Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 3
1. General .................................................................................................................................................................. 3
2. Testate and intestate law of succession ............................................................................................................... 3
3. The administration of estates ............................................................................................................................... 3
4. Contents of wills and freedom of testation .......................................................................................................... 3
5. Vesting and enforcement of rights ....................................................................................................................... 4
6. Legal position in respect of the deceased estate.................................................................................................. 5
7. Basic Requirements for Succession........................................................................................................................... 5
Administration of estates.............................................................................................................................................. 6
Chapter 2: Intestate Succession ........................................................................................................................................ 7
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 7
2. Historical background ........................................................................................................................................... 7
3. Definition of Concepts .......................................................................................................................................... 7
4. The Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 .............................................................................................................. 7
5. Exposition and Application ................................................................................................................................... 8
6. The position of the adopted child in the law of intestate succession ................................................................ 10
7. The position of the child of unmarried parents in the law of intestate succession ........................................... 10
8. The position of children born as a result of artificial fertilisation and surrogate motherhood agreements in the
law of intestate succession ......................................................................................................................................... 10
9. Unworthiness for intestate succession ............................................................................................................... 10
10. Renouncement by intestate heirs ................................................................................................................... 10
11. No intestate heirs............................................................................................................................................ 11
Chapter 3: Testamentary capacity .................................................................................................................................. 12
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 12
2. Testamentary capacity ........................................................................................................................................ 12
3. Capacity to sign as witness ................................................................................................................................. 15
Chapter 4: Formalities in the execution and amendment of wills.................................................................................. 16
1. Formalities in the execution of wills ................................................................................................................... 16
2. Formalities in amending a will ............................................................................................................................ 26
Chapter 5: Invalid wills and revocation of wills .............................................................................................................. 29
1. Invalid wills .......................................................................................................................................................... 29
2. Revocation of wills .............................................................................................................................................. 29
Chapter 6: Capacity to inherit ......................................................................................................................................... 37
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 37
2. General Statutory Provisions .............................................................................................................................. 37
3. Unworthy persons............................................................................................................................................... 38
5. A spouse who has persuaded a minor to marry without consent ...................................................................... 41
, 6. Guardians, curators and administrators ............................................................................................................. 42
7. Consequences of incapacity to inherit ................................................................................................................ 42
Chapter 7: The content of wills ....................................................................................................................................... 43
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 43
2. Beneficiaries ........................................................................................................................................................ 43
3. Conditions and dies ............................................................................................................................................. 44
4. Modus ................................................................................................................................................................. 47
5. Substitution ......................................................................................................................................................... 47
6. Fideicommissary substitution ............................................................................................................................. 49
7. Usufruct............................................................................................................................................................... 53
8. The trust .............................................................................................................................................................. 54
Chapter 8: Joint/Mutual Wills, Adiation/Repudiation/Election and Massing ................................................................ 61
1. Joint and mutual wills ......................................................................................................................................... 61
2. Adiation or repudiation of a bequeathed benefit............................................................................................... 61
3. Massing of estates .............................................................................................................................................. 61
Chapter 9: Accrual (the ius accrescendi) – not prescribed ............................................................................................. 62
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 62
Chapter 10: Collation – not prescribed ........................................................................................................................... 62
Chapter 11: Succession by contract (the pactum successorium) ................................................................................... 62
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 62
2. Identifying an invalid pactum successorium ....................................................................................................... 62
3. Valid forms of the pactum successorium............................................................................................................ 63
Chapter 12: Interpretation and rectification of wills ...................................................................................................... 64
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 64
2. Interpretation...................................................................................................................................................... 64
3. Rectification ........................................................................................................................................................ 67
,Law of Succession
Chapter 1: Introduction
1. General
When a person dies, the remainder of their estate (after obligations/administrative costs) passes by inheritance to
people qualified to succeed that person. The law of succession determines how the qualified beneficiaries are
identified and how the scope of the respective benefits is established. It forms a part of the patrimonial law, the part
of private law including the law of things, the law of obligations and intellectual property law.
The law of succession is the totality of the legal rules which control the transfer of those assets of the deceased which
are subject to distribution among beneficiaries, or those assets of another over which the deceased had the power of
disposal.
In its simplest definition, it controls the transfer of assets at the death of a person.
Law of succession in societal context:
- Economic function: regulates the transfer of wealth upon a person’s death. This is supported by the principle of
freedom of testation (a person may decide how their assets will be distributed after their death to a certain
extent).
- Social function: It maintains and protects the family as a social unit, this is also limited to a certain extent.
2. Testate and intestate law of succession
The person who has died is known as the deceased. If they have left a valid will, they are referred to as the testator. A
will is a unilateral declaration of the wishes of the testator, which sets out how the testator’s assets are to be allocated
to the designated persons or organisations after their death. The freedom of testation principle underlies the law of
testate succession, the formalities of which are dealt with in the Wills Act. In SA law persons may not dispose of their
assets outside of a will (e.g. in a contract) although the exception to this is an ante-nuptial contract which may contain
testamentary provisions.
If a person dies without a valid will or ante nuptial contract containing testamentary provisions, or the will that has
been left is inoperative, the person’s assets are inherited in accordance with the rules of the law of intestate
succession. The Intestate Succession Act outlines the rules for intestate succession and determines who the deceased’s
heirs are. Freedom of testation is irrelevant to intestate succession.
3. The administration of estates
The deceased’s estate consists of assets and liabilities. The assets of the estate are first used to settle the liabilities
and the remainder are passed to the beneficiaries. The process by which the estates debts are paid, and the assets
transferred to the beneficiaries is known as administration of the deceased’s estate. The estate is administered by an
executor in terms of the Administration of Estates Act.
4. Contents of wills and freedom of testation
4.1 Freedom of testation and its restrictions
There are strict formalities regarding the execution of a will, but the content is left mainly to the discretion of the
testator. There are though some restrictions to this freedom (based on economic or social considerations):
- Common law: a provision will not be executed if it is in general unlawful, contra bones mores, impracticably vague
or impossible. A person’s minor-child may also have a common law claim for maintenance from the estate.
- Specific legislation:
o The Pension Funds Act – certain benefits payable by a pension fund are excluded from the estate of a deceased
member of such fund.
o The Immoveable Property (Removal or Modification of Restrictions) act – allows the court to alter or amend
restrictions placed by a will on immoveable property.
o The Trust Property Control Act – authorises the court to amend the provisions of a trust or even terminate the
trust.
o The Maintenance of Surviving Spouses Act – a surviving spouse may in certain circumstances claim an advance
for maintenance from the estate of a deceased spouse.
, 4.2 The influence of the Constitution on freedom of testation
4.2.1 General
S25(1) – Property clause, states that no one may be deprived of property except in the terms of law of general
application and no law may permit arbitrary deprivation of property. This provision guarantees the right to private
property, it also includes a person’s right to dispose of their property during their lifetime as well as at the time of
their death (thus it guarantees freedom of testation).
In re BOE Trust Ltd. the SCA accepted this interpretation as correct. They also linked the principle of freedom of
testation to the right to human dignity (S10).
- The case concerned a women who created a charitable trust in her will which would provide bursaries to inorganic
chemistry students. She created two restrictions that the person must be white, and they must return to SA after
their studies.
- Without Freedom Of Testation, the courts and state could infringe on property rights and potentially benefit from
the person’s death.
- These rights can be limited (S36 – ‘limitations clause’)
- Other fundamental rights influence FOT, the equality clause (S9) – prohibits unfair discrimination based on certain
protected characteristics. It is suggested that these provisions could be applied in appropriate circumstances in a
dispute between individual legal subjects (horizontal application).
4.2.2 Complete disinheritance
The first situation entails a complete (out-and-out) disinheritance of a person on the basis of a protected characteristic.
In these cases, the right of the testator to freedom of testation conflicts with the beneficiaries right to equality. It is
suggested that in these cases, the testator’s right should be given preference. The reasons for this are as follows:
- An opposite conclusion would reduce the principle of freedom of testation to a fiction.
- No one has the fundamental right to inherit, leaving someone out of a will does not infringe upon any rights.
- An opposite conclusion would lead to practical difficulties (e.g. must the court re-write the will to include the
beneficiary, must the estate be divided in terms of intestate succession, what would the disadvantaged persons
remedy be etc.).
Relevant Case law:
- King and others NNO v De Jager and others 2017: Testator in a will made in 1902 said that only his male
descendants could inherit his farm after the first generation. Confirmed by the SCA without reasons. Read
attentively paras 56 - 82.
- Harper and others v Crawford NO and others 2018: ‘Only my natural children and not my adopted children can
inherit’, Appeal Harvey v Crawford, confirmed by SCA with reasons.
4.2.3 Attaching conditions to testamentary bequests
The second situation entails a case in which a person has been included as a beneficiary, but some or other condition
has been attached to the bequest. “My daughter inherits 100 000, if she abandons the Christian faith, she will forfeit
the money”. It is likely that these will be considered invalid on Constitutional grounds.
4.3 General testamentary institutions
Despite having freedom of testation, a number of testamentary institutions have developed that occur regularly in
wills. E.g. fideicommissum.
4.4. Freedom of testation and revocation and amendment of wills
A consequence of the freedom of testation is that the testator can revoke or alter their will at any time before death.
A contract used for testation is thus invalid as it is against public policy as you are bound to a contract, but you are not
bound to a will. The exception to this is testamentary provisions contained in an ante nuptial contract.
5. Vesting and enforcement of rights
5.1 The falling open of the estate: ‘dies cedit’ and ‘dies venit’
The beneficiary’s claim against an executor in terms of the law of succession arises the moment the estate of the
deceased ‘falls open’. The moment that the estate ‘falls open’ is also known as delatio. This moment is often referred
to as the moment when the beneficiary’s right becomes vested, or the moment of dies cedit. Dies cedit (‘moment of
vesting’) is different from the moment the right becomes enforceable or dies venit. These two moments can coincide
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