CURRENT PRACTICAL PROBLEMS AND GUIDELINES WITH THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONE
Covid-19 hit us like a tsunami in 2020, a wave of devastation from which humanity will find it difficult to recover. New deceased estates have flooded in over the past 2 years and people have anxiously realized that their wills need to be in order. Institutions such as insurance companies were inundated with death claims, law firms such as Rauch Gertenbach Inc, which has a large fiduciary division, banks, the Master’s Office, government gazette, pension funds and medical aid funds’ workload exceeded maximum capacity. In addition to the large numbers of deaths, technical problems beyond the control of administrators of deceased estates have led to various delays and frustrations. The coming into force of the new POPI Act further complicated matters.
At the beginning of 2021, the Government Gazette had problems with their computer system for about 5 months. Neither of the two mandatory advertisements in deceased estates could be published.
As of 5 September 2021, the Department of Justice, which includes the Master’s Office, has been experiencing similar problems with their computer system resulting in Letters of Executorship and/or Authority not being issued. Despite pressure from various external parties and stakeholders, there was little indication or hope as to when the problem would be rectified.
In cases where Letters of Executorship and/or Authority were issued before 7 September, executors faced trouble closing the deceased’s bank accounts and collecting the proceeds thereof. This being due to the fact that banks all follow the same practice of electronically verifying the correctness of the details on the Letters of Executorship with the information on the Master’s website portal, which portal was offline.
Yes, as a collective, we are facing many frustrations and challenges at this time, but we would like to in the meantime offer and share some pointers with you which you may find to be helpful:
- The transfer of a deceased’s medical aid and pension to the surviving spouse or other dependents/beneficiaries does not form part of the deceased estate administration process or nominated executor’s duties and must be attended to by the surviving spouse/dependent/beneficiary himself or herself.
- Surviving spouses, please check that your income tax number is active before submitting the claim for spouse’s pension.
- If the deceased was the principal member of a medical aid fund, you must ascertain the requirements of the specific fund to make membership changes. The majority of medical aid funds are currently cancelling membership upon notification of the principal member’s death. The dependent (normally the surviving spouse) must re-apply for membership and a new membership number will be allocated.
- Members of the Government Employees Pension Fund must send the original claim documents for a spouse’s pension application by courier to the following address: Pensions Building, 34 Hamilton Street, Arcadia, Pretoria, 0001. Documents sent by registered post are simply not collected at the post office. The official forms that must accompany the application are Z143 and Z894. The Z583 is completed where application is made for the continuation of medical subsidy. All these forms can be accessed and downloaded at www.gepf.gov.za.
- Most GEPF members and their spouses qualify for a once-off R15 000 funeral benefit. The official application form for this is Z300 together with a Z894. The application can be faxed to 012-319 3655 or sent by email to funeralclaims@gpaa.gov.za.
- Vehicle licenses may be renewed before the Letters of Executorship is issued. Ask the nominated executor for a letter confirming that the estate has been reported to the Master’s office and that the process is underway. That being said, vehicles cannot be sold or ownership thereof transferred without the Letters of Executorship.
The gears of a large machine will now be able to start turning again and we hope to eliminate the backlog as soon as possible.
Article by Janél Kruger (LLB), Associate
For more information, kindly contact Janél at janel@rgprok.com or 044 601 9900.
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Disclaimer
Nothing contained in this publication is to be considered as the rendering of legal advice for specific cases, and readers are responsible for obtaining such advice from their own legal counsel. This publication is intended for educational and informational purposes only.
