Lucienne Murray attorney and conveyancer

02/08/2026

Deceased Estates: Know your executor.
When having your Will drafted make sure you know your Executor. There has been many media reports of Executors stealing money from deceased estates. Remember that the Executor that you appoint in your Will is entirely your decision. However IF you appoint a family member/attorney/friend/ financial institution/financial advisor and your Will stipulates that your Executor has the right of assumption, this means that the Executor may appoint someone else to attend to the Winding up of the Estate.
If your Estate is worth more than R 250 000.00 the Master may recommend professional assistance. This is because of the complexities involved in Winding up of an Estate over R 250 000 (the drafting of a liquidation and distribution account etc).
It is therefore important to make sure the Executor that you appoint has the necessary experience in winding up of estates as the Executor remains personally liable for financial errors, wrong distributions or unpaid taxes.
If your Executor gives Power of Attorney to someone else to assist with the Winding up of the Estate then the Executor should CLOSELY monitor the agent/attorney. My personal opinion would be that the Executor asks the necessary questions and keeps a hands on approach by asking for Deceased account bank statements every month. In this way it would be easier to pick up any irregularities for example payments made to third parties that cannot be explained.
As an heir of a deceased you should also keep a hands on approach and may also ask for bank statements of the deceased estate.
Deceased estate are complex and making sure the Executor belongs to a governing body for example the Legal Practice Council ( attorneys)/ IRBA (auditors) are crucial in order for you or your family members to have other means of right of recourse to enforce non-compliance of their duty as Executor.
The Master's office handle a myriad of deceased estates and in practice their offices does not and/or cannot closely monitor whether the Executor deviates from his/her fiduciary responsibilities.

13/07/2026

https://nuusflits.com/masters-office-disruptions-place-focus-on-justice-departments-digital-rollout/?fbclid=IwZnRzaATCFGtwZG9mA2ZkaWQWUKezm21zRuAAjiW_GQI3OJIvZeTNm2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7yqdVLS1lSFpaFqLf1Mbur-HWzzuxZBhZnoQc5w714ytq93F5qbZUW85Al6w_aem_vNzQYki-YyVm3Tpg3i7d8A

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has provided details about service disruptions at the Pretoria and Cape Town Master’s Offices, including inaccessible physical files, network problems, processing delays and backlogs.

02/06/2026

‼️GET ADVICE BEFORE YOU SIGN

🏡 When a Property Looks “Stunning”… But Isn’t
A Marina Da Gama home. A collapsed wooden deck. A 12 year court battle. And in the end — every claim was dismissed.
Here’s what YOU should know.
1. What actually happened
The buyers purchased a home described by the estate agent as being in “stunning condition”. Seven months after moving in, the upper wooden deck collapsed.
Experts later found:
• The decks had no approved plans
• They did not meet National Building Regulations
• The defects were latent — meaning a normal buyer would not have seen them
The buyers sued the agent and the seller. After hearing their evidence, the court dismissed all claims.
💬 2. “Stunning” is not a legal promise
Words like “stunning”, “beautiful”, or “lovely” are sales talk, not guarantees. They do not mean the structure is sound or compliant.
To be misrepresentation, a statement must be a verifiable fact, not an opinion.
The court found:
• The agent did not know about the hidden defects
• He had no duty to conduct technical or engineering investigations
• No misrepresentation existed
⚖️ 3. The voetstoots clause protected the seller
A voetstoots clause means the property is sold as is.
To defeat it, a buyer must prove:
1. The seller knew about the defect, and
2. The seller hid it on purpose to mislead the buyer
The buyers could not prove either. In fact, they described the seller as honest and unaware of any problems.
❌4. Their damages claim was also incorrect
Even if they had won, they claimed the wrong type of damages.
The law allows a buyer to claim a reduction in the purchase price (actio quanti minoris), not full replacement costs. Repair costs can help estimate the loss — but they are not the loss itself.
🧾 5. The real lesson for property buyers
• Puffery is not a promise
• Voetstoots is difficult to overcome
• Buyers must investigate properly before signing👁️
• Litigation is slow, expensive, and uncertain
12 years. 9 court days. Significant legal fees 💰Every claim dismissed.