Are you a Trustee of an Inter Vivos Trust, but cannot find the original Trust Deed or Letter of Authority when the Trust’s Bankers ask for these details for FICA purposes? Do you have a query about an old estate, or need copies of documents from the Master’s office for some other purpose? Trusts: The …
Need copies from the Master’s Records? We can assist! Read More »
A South African client who owns property in Namibia and the UK, recently asked me what would happen to his offshore assets if he were to die while resident in South Africa. Although all the worldwide assets of a South African resident are potentially taxable under the Estate Duty Act, there may be assets that …
POPI refers to South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act which regulates the Processing of Personal Information. What is Personal Information? This means any information relating to an identifiable, living natural person or juristic person (companies, CC’s etc.) and includes, but is not limited to: Contact details: email, telephone, address etc.; Demographic information: age, sex, …
Debt does not last forever, after a period of time it prescribes and becomes invalid. Prescribed debt can be explained as old debt that has not been acknowledged over a period of three years. This means that a debt prescribes if: You have not acknowledged the debt in the past three consecutive years, either in …
On 23 May 2017, the Constitutional Court heard an application for confirmation of an order of the High Court of South Africa, that declared section 118(3) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000, constitutionally invalid. On 29 August, in a ruling majority written by Justice Edwin Cameron, the court found that upon transfer of …
Municipal debt invalid, the Constitutional Court has ruled Read More »
If a person who needs to have a legal act done while being unable to attend to it personally, because of illness or being outside the country, for example, such a person (“the principal”) could execute a power of attorney in favour of a third party (“the agent”). The law on agency applies to this …
It is a common but unfounded belief that the State will take over your assets if you die without a Will. The Intestate Succession Act, no. 81 of 1987, sets out the rules of how the estate of a person who died without a Will should be divided between his/her family members. It specifically makes …
By Richard Stevens – Director, Commercial Department The Companies Act 71 of 2008 (“the Act”) provides that a company’s memorandum of incorporation (MoI) must set out the classes of shares and the number of shares in each class. The Act further provides that the preferences, rights, limitations of each class have to be set out …
The Master recently published Guidelines setting out requirements for the appointment of an Independent Trustee, “where the trust is registered for the first time with the Master and it emerges from the Trust Deed that the trust is a “family business trust”. A “family business trust” is a trust where the trustees have the power …
What is the Role of the Independent Trustee after 1 March 2017? Read More »
In terms of the previous Companies Act directors could generally only act with the consent or approval of shareholders in a number of cases. The Companies Act 71 of 2008 (“the Act”) grants more default powers to directors than the previous Company Act. The increased powers come at a cost to directors: they are more …
Directors of companies: Liability, Indemnification and Insurance Read More »