I found a relative's name

A notice with a relative's name means their estate has been reported to the Master and someone has been appointed to wind it up. It does not say who inherits. This page is about finding that out.

Do this now

  1. Check it is the right person: the dates of birth and death, the Master's office, and the estate number.
  2. Note which notice it is. An estate opened notice means the estate has just started. A payout plan ready notice means the account is open to read for 21 days.
  3. Write to the executor named on the notice. Their address is printed in the gazette notice. The notice page links a web search for that gazette.
  4. Ask the executor whether there is a will, whether you are named in it, and what stage the estate has reached.
  5. If the payout plan is open, read the account at the Master's office or ask the executor for a copy.
  6. If something in the account is wrong, write to the Master before the 21 days end.

Am I entitled to anything?

If there is a will, the will decides. A person may leave their estate to anyone.

If there is no will, the Intestate Succession Act decides. The spouse and children come first. The spouse receives at least R250,000, or a child's share if that is more, and the children share the rest. If there is no spouse or child, the parents inherit, then brothers and sisters, then wider family.

A partner who was never married to the person, and a stepchild, inherit only if a will says so. A customary marriage counts as a marriage.

How do I find out if there was a will?

South Africa has no register of wills. The original will must be handed to the Master when the death is reported. So the Master's office that holds the file knows whether one was lodged.

Ask the executor first. Then ask the Master's office, quoting the estate number. Banks, attorneys and insurers who draft wills keep copies and will say whether they hold one. Once the Master has accepted a will, a copy can be requested from that office.

If the family is not telling you things

The Master, not the family, appoints the executor and checks the account. Anyone holding a will must hand it to the Master; keeping it back is an offence.

If you believe assets are being hidden or heirs left out, write to the Master's office with the estate number and what you know. Do it before the 21 days of the payout plan ready notice end, when the account is still open to objection.

The house

A house in the estate cannot be sold or transferred until the executor has letters of executorship. The executor sells or transfers it, and the account shows what happened to it. Someone living in it does not own it by living there.

Where this leaves you

Last checked 20 September 2026. The law behind these pages is the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965.