Disadvantages of dying without a Will

• The court could appoint someone you do not approve of to be your executor.
• Your estate will be dealt with according to a rigid and inflexible law – you can't leave a specific item to someone who would really have benefited from it, or decide on the proportions your beneficiaries will get.
• Your minor childrens inheritance might disappear, since anything they are entitled to
• receive, will have to be transferred into monetary form and saved? in the Guardians Fund of the government, until they turn 18 years of age. This means that the family home would have to be sold which is quite problematic for your children.
• With all the fraudulent syndicates operating in South Africa at the moment, your money and assets will more than likely fall into their hands instead of going to the people you love and who are dearest to you.

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A WILL

Sometimes, we are reluctant to con-template our own mortality, and sometimes we feel that by providing for death we are somehow inviting it closer. Many very responsible people still leave their estate matters to pure chance, believing that their immediate family will automatically inherit everything. This can lead to unnecessary delays in the administration of the estate and the potential for added trauma and conflict at the very time that the family is already suffering from the stress of dealing with the loss of a loved one. If you die without leaving a Will, the beneficiaries will be determined according to legislation – the Law of In-testate Succession. Essentially, the law determines who the closest blood relatives are and distributes the as-sets in terms of this. The correct people will not necessarily get the money and assets due to them, especially with all the fraud taking place in our world.