Related documents
- Is amended by General Law Amendment Act, 1992
- Amends Administration of Estates Act, 1965
- Amends Intestate Succession Act, 1987
- Amends Wills Act, 1953
Loading PDF...
This document is 2.9 MB. Do you want to load it?
History of this document
01 October 1992 amendment not yet applied
Amended by
General Law Amendment Act, 1992
Commenced by
Law of Succession Amendment Act, 1992: Commencement
15 April 1992 this version
07 April 1992
Assented to
Cited documents 0
Documents citing this one 16
Judgment
12|
Reported
Whether neutral beneficiary terms in a 1953 trust include adopted children and when courts may alter private testamentary dispositions.
Trust law – Interpretation of testamentary/trust instruments – Whether terms 'children', 'descendants', 'issue', 'legal descendants' include adopted children; effect of s 71(2) Children’s Act 1937; freedom of testation v equality; s 13 Trust Property Control Act variation.
|
|
Pleadings failed to show deceased drafted or caused the 2021 document; statutory will formalities strictly applied, exceptions upheld.
Wills — revocation — s 2A(c) Wills Act — strict approach: deceased must have drafted or caused a document to be drafted and intended revocation; mere oral instruction insufficient. Wills — validation — s 2(3) Wills Act — strict and narrow application; document must be shown to have been intended by the deceased to be his will. Lex non cogit ad impossibilia — principle does not readily excuse non‑compliance with Wills Act formalities; requirements for its application not met on pleaded facts. Civil procedure — exception — pleading must disclose cause of action; court assumes pleaded facts true and weeds out claims lacking legal foundation.
|
|
A spouse who bona fide writes a testator’s will is not automatically disqualified under section 4A if no fraud or undue influence occurred.
Wills Act s 4A – disqualification of witnesses/amanuenses – interaction of s 4A(1) with exceptions in s 4A(2)(a) (court relief for no fraud/undue influence) and s 4A(2)(b) (automatic intestacy exemption) – bona fide amanuensis entitled to benefit.
|
|
Reported
Court finds handwritten September 1997 document intended as deceased's will and orders Master to accept it.
* Wills Act s 2(3) – court may order Master to accept non‑formal document as will where deceased intended it as such.
* Testamentary intention – to be ascertained from document and surrounding circumstances; clear declaratory language and safekeeping arrangements may establish intent.
* Documentary interpretation – explanatory passages do not preclude testamentary effect if document states decisive testamentary directions.
* Subsequent conduct – reconciliation or later events are relevant only if they illuminate the maker's state of mind when the document was executed.
* Locus standi – applicant without direct interest should obtain appointment of a curator ad litem; substantive relief may proceed when curator joined.
|
|
Reported
Whether witness initials satisfy the Wills Act attestation and page‑signing formalities under s 2(1)(a).
Wills Act (7/1953) — construction of 'sign' and 'signature' — whether witness initials satisfy s 2(1)(a)(iii),(iv) formalities — attestation and page‑signing requirements — strict compliance to prevent fraud; later statutory amendment (1992) adds initials to definition of 'sign'.
|
|
Master’s unclear decision on fideicommissary objections remitted for reconsideration after account has lain open; costs from the estate.
Estate administration — review of Master’s decision under s35(9) of the Administration of Estates Act; procedural validity of objections lodged before account lies open (ss35(7)–(10)) — Götz principle; interpretation and acceleration of fideicommissum (fideicommissum simplex vs multiplex) and applicability of s2C(2) and SCA authority; remittal to Master where decision is unclear or incomplete.
|
|
Initials on a suretyship can satisfy the statutory signing requirement; procedural defects were condoned and judgment granted for debt, interest and attorney-and-client costs.
Suretyship — validity of signature — initials on each page can constitute a valid signature if they identify the surety and evidence intention to be bound; procedural defects — omission of hearing date and defective commissioning of founding affidavit may be condoned where respondent was served and no real prejudice shown; costs — costs entitlement limited to period after correctly commissioned affidavit filed; judgment — joint and several liability of principal debtor and surety for debt, interest and attorney-and-client costs.
|
|
Reported
Court ordered rectification of a will where spouses inadvertently signed each other’s wills; Master’s acceptance set aside.
Wills — Rectification — Crossed wills where spouses inadvertently sign each other's wills — Court may rectify wills to give effect to true testamentary intention where formalities otherwise complied with — Master’s registration administrative only; court may set aside registration.
|
|
Eviction under PIE postponed sine die for lack of detailed occupier information and absent municipal report.
PIE – eviction – justice and equity enquiry – necessity of municipal report where homelessness risk exists – insufficiency of bare allegations and denials – lis pendens defence fails where related litigation does not involve same parties – registered title and letters of authority remain operative until set aside.
|
|
Court dismisses application to declare an unsigned document as deceased's will citing lack of intent and formalities.
Wills Act – Validity of will – Unsigned document – Intention of testator – Formal requirements under South African law
|