Navigate modern estate planning with confidence through this in-depth self-study package designed for professionals, business owners, trustees, and individuals seeking clarity in an increasingly complex legal and digital world.

This bundled programme combines four specialised courses to give you a complete, practical, and legally grounded understanding of estate planning, succession, and trust structuring within the South African context.

The following self-study courses are included:

Modern Estate Planning: Blending Family, Digital Life and Legal Reality

• How to structure a modern estate plan that accommodates blended families, business ownership, and evolving personal circumstances
• The treatment and inclusion of digital assets- from online banking and social media to cryptocurrency and cloud storage
• How to select and brief executors, trustees, and guardians effectively to ensure your wishes are carried out in practice
• The essential components of a compliant and up-to-date will, including clauses to address digital and cross-border assets
• How to coordinate estate planning with business and trust structures to ensure continuity and control
• Practical steps for keeping estate documentation current and accessible in a secure, legally sound manner
• Emerging trends and legal updates shaping estate planning practices in South Africa in 2025/2026 and beyond

Business Continuity & Estate Clarity: Estate Planning & Succession in the Modern Workplace

• Overview of the legal framework: the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987, the Wills Act 7 of 1953, and recent case-law impacting succession and estate planning. For example modern interpretations of “intestate” scenarios and digital asset inclusion
• Business succession and estate planning overlap: how to structure a business owner’s estate so that the business survives death or incapacity, and how staff / successors are impacted. E.g., disposing of company shares, buy-sell agreements, continuity
• Practical estate-administration challenges in a business context: roles of executors/trustees when business interests are present; dealing with co-ownership, digital assets, common delays and how to mitigate them
• Action plan for employees and employers: what staff should know about their own estate planning (especially key persons, shareholdings, interdependencies) and what employers can offer as part of staff benefit programmes (educational sessions, checklists, referral to advisors)

Estate Planning Masterclass

MARITAL REGIMES AND ASSETS OF TESTATOR / TESTATRIX

• Marital Regimes and the impact on assets
• Assets of Testator / Testatrix

• Possible cash contribution
• Credit Life
• Life Cover
• Outstanding bond and the impact on the surivivng spouse / co-owner

ESTATE DUTY

• Assets / Property / Property deemed to be property
• Estate Duty Rate
• Section 4q deductions (survivng spouse)
• Estate Duty Rebate
• Possible roll over rebate to subsequent deceased
• Allowed Deductions

DRAFTING OF A LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

• Drafting of a valid Last Will and Testament
• Effect of divorce or annulment of marriage on will – 3 months grace period
• Encourage your client to review their Last Will and Testament at least once a year
• Cremation / organ donation

Formation of Trusts

• What is a Trust and what is it used for?
• How is a Trust Created? Registrations?
• How do you manage it? Tax Administration Formalities
• Contracts with Trusts
• How do you determine the tax residency of a trust?
  • Place of incorporation
  • Place of effective management
  • DTA - Double Taxation Agreements
• Why are trusts so infamous for tax purposes?
• Different types of Trusts
• Parties to a Trust
• What are the potential advantages and disadvantages of establishing an Inter Vivos Trust?
• Trustees & Beneficiaries
• Assets of the Trust
  • What assets can be part of a Trust?
  • Who owns the assets in the Trust?
  • When can the Trust Assets be Distributed?
• Estate-pegging Opportunities (Section 7C problem)
• Tax Considerations
• Offshore Trusts
• Trust owning shares in a company or close corporation