Executor
A nominated person closes up the Estate which was registered at birth. The process is called winding up of the Estate. You could draft a document stating your last wishes and instructions to that nominated person. The nominated person is known as the Executor of your Estate. The drafted document is your Last Will and Testament.
The successful administration of your estate, by the appointed Executor, depends on the services of various external institutions, such as the National Revenue Service, the Master’s office, insurance companies and many more. The time that these institutions spend on finalising the affairs of the deceased, affects the success with which the Executor can conclude the affairs of the estate.
The Executor must attend to income tax as well as all other tax aspects such as VAT as at the date of death. If the deceased’s tax affairs have not been recorded properly, the executor may experience problems in obtaining all the information and completing the necessary returns. As a result, valuable time could be lost. The South African Revenue Service must also issue final assessments against the estate, and the processing of the final assessments may also cause valuable time to be lost.
To eliminate unforeseen problems with the administration process of Estates, it is advisable to have proper Estate planning of your affairs done by an expert on a regular basis. Proper Estate planning will show up deficiencies in your affairs which can then be addressed in time. Your Will should also be drafted by an expert in conjunction with the Estate planning.
Executors are faced with many unforeseen problems like obtaining your personal information in order to wind up the Will, information such as tax numbers, identity numbers, membership numbers, memberships, title deeds, etc.
Heirs are responsible for the income tax levied on all income collected by the Executor from date of death until the date on which the Estate is finalised. At finalisation of the estate, the Executor will provide the necessary statements reflecting the income accrued during the various fiscal years during which the Estate was under administration.
Ensure that you familiarise yourself with the onus to state the income on your tax statements. Copies of the statements provided by the Executor can be attached to your tax returns for easy reference. In the instance of your death, the Executor, on submitting your death certificate and following verification of appointment by you, will be able to access your information at MYPORTFOLIOVAULT.COM to be able to wind up your Will successfully with little or no delay.
