"An Attorney near me" - Cape Town legal concierge
lawyer@capetownlawyer.co.za or WhatsApp

Lawyer to draft will for free | South Africa

You can typically get a will drafted for free by a lawyer if you are willing to appoint the lawyer, or a related company, as executor of the will. If you want to appoint your own executor (not the lawyer doing the drafting), you should be able to get a will with no significant complications drafted for under R1000 (at the time of writing).

A will gives you the opportunity to indicate how and to whom your assets must be distributed after your death. If you die without a will, your assets may not end up with the people for whom you intended it.

Administering a deceased estate can be a complex process and therefore it is best to ensure that a lawyer experienced in estates is nominated as executor in terms of your Will. If an inexperienced person is appointed as executor, make sure that they're good at project management, and are aware of specialists to appoint to assist them (e.g. with the conveyancing surrounding the transfer of any property there may be). In addition to appointing an executor to your last will and testament, you need to detail who you bequeath your estate to, and stipulate whether it is seperate from the marital power which might apply to any marriage of each beneficiary. If you have minor children, decide who you will appoint as a guardian to take care of them. You will need two people to witness your signature to the will, by fully signing each page of the will. You should also take down their full names, ID numbers, phone numbers and addresses. Make sure your will is stored safely, and that somebody you trust knows where it is.

Book Consultation

Trust funds, usufructs & conveyancing

Whilst it's easy to get a lawyer to draft a will for you for free, you wont find lawyers or notaries willing to do related specialist activities for free; like:

• Registering a trust (click here to see a list of the top trust lawyers in Cape Town.
• Transfer of property inside a deceased estate.
• Notarial deeds of cession of usufruct

Absa Wills

Another option is to use the likes of Absa Wills to draft your will. Absa will draft your will for "free" (see below where they make some of their money) if your asset value is R500k or more (at the time of writing) and Absa Trust is appointed as executor of the will/deceased estate.

Absa charges an annual fee of R115 (including Value Added Tax) to keep the will in their custody (lawyers will often do this for free) and the maximum executor's fee of 3.5% (excl VAT) is charged on the gross estate value to administrate the estate; whilst this is negotiable with lawyers (often you can achieve executor's fees of 2.5% (ex VAT) with deceased estate lawyers.

Deceased Estate Information

If a relative has died, perhaps without a will, and you are unsure of what do:

• Report deceased estate to the Master online
• Steps to take when your parent dies without a will.
  • Applying for a death certificate
  • J192 form - next-of-kin
  • Nomination to act as executor
• Lawyers in Cape Town specialising in deceased estates.
• Administrators in Cape Town for deceased estates .
• Letter of executorship requirements in South Africa.
  • J192 form - next-of-kin (if no will)
  • Nomination to act as executor (if no will)
  • J190 form assistance
• Administration of deceased estates in South Africa.
• Property transfer cost in a deceased estate.
• Inheritance and child maintenance obligations.
• Intestate Succession Act
• Tracking deceased estates
• Death of a spouse before divorce if finalised

Wills

• How to write a will.
• Example of a last will and testament.
• Get your will drafted for free (by a lawyer).
• List of lawyers that draft wills in Cape Town.
• Consider updating your will when these events occur:
  • when divorcing; to avoid your ex-spouse possibly inheriting everything.
  • death of somebody mentioned in your will,
  • the birth of a child you may want to include in your will,
  • marriages

Connect with a Deceased Estate Expert today

Deceased Estate discussion forum

Note that this is a public forum - exercise caution before acting on info and use at own risk. Anybody may ask and answer, and you don't know what their level of expertise is. No information on this website should be acted on without first consulting with a lawyer to test its validity. Do not share private details here.