What to Do When Someone Passes: A Cape Town Guide to Estate Reporting

Someone close to you has died. The funeral is done, the condolences have been received, and now you are left with a different kind of weight — the practical task of winding up their affairs. The bank accounts are frozen. The property needs to transfer. And someone has told you that you need to report the estate to the Master's Office, but you are not entirely sure what that means or what you are supposed to bring.

A point that confuses many families: although the official title is the Master of the High Court, the estate is reported at the Master’s Office — an administrative office with its own building and processes. Nothing is filed at the Western Cape High Court itself. In Cape Town, the Master’s Office is at 45 Castle Street, a few blocks from our offices.

Estate reporting is the formal process by which a deceased estate is registered with the Master of the High Court and an executor is appointed. It is not optional. In South Africa, all estates with assets exceeding R250,000 must go through this process, and the executor appointed by the Master is the only person with legal authority to administer the estate — to access bank accounts, transfer property, claim from pension funds, pay creditors, and ultimately distribute what remains to the heirs.

Until that appointment is made, banks will not release funds, SARS will not engage, and the Deeds Office will not transfer any immovable property. This surprises many families, particularly when a surviving spouse assumes they have automatic authority over joint assets. They generally do not — at least not without going through the Master's Office first.

What reporting actually involves

The process begins at the Master of the High Court in the jurisdiction where the deceased was ordinarily resident. In Cape Town, that is the Master’s Office at 45 Castle Street — not the High Court itself. The core documents required are the death certificate, the original will (if one exists), a completed death notice, an affidavit from the next of kin, and an inventory of assets and liabilities. Additional documents — identity documents, marriage certificates, title deeds, bank statements — are usually needed depending on the nature and complexity of the estate.

Once these are lodged and accepted, the Master processes the application and issues either Letters of Executorship (where the estate requires full administration) or Letters of Authority (for smaller or simpler estates). How long this takes depends on the Master’s Office itself — and with the backlogs several offices, including Cape Town, are working through, we deliberately make no promises. It takes longer still if the documentation is incomplete or if there is any dispute about the nomination of executor.

If the deceased left a valid will, the will usually nominates an executor. If not — or if there is no valid will at all — the Master appoints one, often at the request of the surviving family members. Where there is no will, the estate is distributed according to the Intestate Succession Act, which follows a fixed formula based on the surviving spouse and children rather than any wishes the deceased may have expressed informally.

The executor's role — and what it costs

Once appointed, the executor takes control of the estate and is personally responsible for its proper administration. This includes identifying and collecting all assets, notifying creditors and settling legitimate debts, obtaining a tax clearance certificate from SARS, and ultimately distributing the balance to the heirs in accordance with the will or the law of intestate succession.

The executor is entitled to a fee. Under the Administration of Estates Act, the tariff is 3.5% (plus VAT) on the gross value of assets in the estate, plus 6% on income collected during the administration period. This fee is payable from estate funds and is regulated — it cannot simply be charged at whatever rate seems reasonable. On a modest estate of R2 million in assets, that is R70,000 in executor's fees before VAT. Families sometimes attempt to save on this by appointing a family member as executor without realising the significant legal and administrative obligations that come with the role.

The overall duration of the administration depends on the nature of the assets, the Master’s Office turnaround, and whether any disputes arise among heirs or creditors. We do not promise timeframes, because the largest variable sits outside any attorney’s control: the Master’s Office itself. Several Masters’ offices, including Cape Town, are working through significant backlogs, and the wait for Letters of Executorship can stretch well beyond what families anticipate. What an attorney can control is the quality of the reporting bundle — correct documents, correctly completed, lodged once — and persistent, documented follow-up. That is what we do.

What families should do — and what to avoid

The most important thing a family can do in the immediate aftermath of a death is gather documents — the will, bank statements, title deeds, share certificates, pension fund information, vehicle registration papers — and bring them to an attorney or the Master's Office as soon as practically possible. Delays in reporting the estate do not stop the administration period from eventually running, but they do create gaps during which assets can deteriorate, accounts accumulate fees, and disputes have time to develop.

What families should avoid is acting on estate assets without authority. Withdrawing funds from the deceased's account, transferring property informally among heirs, or signing documents on the deceased's behalf after death — all of these create legal problems that must eventually be corrected, often at significant cost and with implications for the heirs involved.

We assist families throughout the estate administration process — from the initial reporting to the Master through to the final distribution and transfer of assets. If you are not sure where to start, that is a perfectly normal position to be in. Most families aren't. Come and see us.

This article is part of our Estates & Trusts practice. If you are dealing with this situation, speak to one of our directors directly.

Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice. The law is stated as at the date of first publication and may since have changed. Reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. For advice on your specific circumstances, speak to one of our directors. See our full disclaimer.