The whole journey
From a death to the account: each step, who is responsible for it, and how long it takes.
The wait a family sees, step by step
Each step's median, end to end, for the latest full year: death to the notice to creditors (notices that year), then the notice to the account (accounts that year), then the inspection period the law requires.
Each step is a median over its own estates: every estate with a date of death for the first, estates that reached an account for the second, so the bar is not one estate's wait. Inspection is drawn at the 21 days the law requires as a minimum, not a measured time. The payout after the account is not in the Gazette.
Cite
GazetteSearch (2026). The wait a family sees, step by step. Release 2026-10-02b. gazettesearch.co.za/analysis/journey#whole-journey. Data: CC BY 4.0.
Median time at each step, year by year
Each step's median, in years or months, by year from 2017: death to the notice to creditors (every estate with a date of death, by year of the notice), then the notice to the account (estates that reached an account, by year of the account).
Each step's median is shown end to end, so the top of a bar is not the median whole wait. From 2017: before then the record, which starts in mid-2012, cannot hold a long wait. The last year is part of a year, drawn pale.
Cite
GazetteSearch (2026). Median time at each step, year by year. Release 2026-10-02b. gazettesearch.co.za/analysis/journey#steps. Data: CC BY 4.0.
From a death to the notice to creditors
Death to the notice to creditors, by year of the notice: the median and the middle half of estates, in years or months (estates with a date of death).
One span for three parties: the family reports the death, the Master issues letters of executorship, and the executor advertises for creditors. Every estate with a dated notice counts, account or not.
Cite
GazetteSearch (2026). From a death to the notice to creditors. Release 2026-10-02b. gazettesearch.co.za/analysis/journey#death-to-notice. Data: CC BY 4.0.
From the notice to creditors to the account
The notice to creditors to the account, by year of the account from 2017: the median and the middle half of estates, in years or months (estates with both notices).
One span for many parties: the executor gathers the estate, with SARS, banks and others, and draws the account; the Master examines it. From 2017: before then the record cannot hold a long wait.
Cite
GazetteSearch (2026). From the notice to creditors to the account. Release 2026-10-02b. gazettesearch.co.za/analysis/journey#notice-to-account. Data: CC BY 4.0.
Each step, office by office
Each step's median by office for the latest full year, in years or months: death to the notice to creditors by the office the notice names (notices that year), then the notice to the account by the office on the account (accounts that year).
Each step is a median over its own estates, so a bar is not one estate's wait. An office's step with under 30 estates is left out.
Cite
GazetteSearch (2026). Each step, office by office. Release 2026-10-02b. gazettesearch.co.za/analysis/journey#by-office. Data: CC BY 4.0.
Each office on its own page: Bhisho · Bloemfontein · Cape Town · Durban · Makhanda · Johannesburg · Kimberley · Mahikeng · Middelburg · Mthatha · Nelspruit · Pietermaritzburg · Polokwane · Gqeberha · Pretoria · Thohoyandou
What the Gazette cannot see
These steps are part of every estate's journey, but they are not visible in the Gazette. We name them rather than guess at them.
- Reporting the death and the letters of executorship
- The family reports the death to the Master; the Master issues letters of executorship; the executor advertises for creditors. The first notice appears only after the letters are issued and the executor has placed it, so the Gazette shows the family's, the Master's and the executor's time as one span (death to the notice to creditors); it cannot split them.
- The Master's examination of the account
- The Master. The account is advertised only after the Master has examined it, so the executor's preparation and the Master's examination are one span (the notice to the account); it cannot split them.
- Objections and supplementary accounts
- Anyone may object; the executor and the Master resolve it. An objection is never published. A supplementary account sometimes is, but it is not yet told apart from a first account here.
- Paying out the heirs and closing the estate
- The executor pays out and lodges proof of payment with the Master. Nothing is published when an estate is paid out or closed, so the end of the journey is not visible in the Gazette.
- Small estates
- The Master, with the family (section 18(3) of the Administration of Estates Act). For estates below a value the Minister sets, the Master may dispense with an executor (section 18(3)); how many are advertised is not known.