Deceased estate administration: what to do first, and who does what

The death of a family member arrives with an administrative process attached, and the sequence matters. Doing things out of order - spending a bank balance, transferring a car, distributing furniture - can make a family member personally liable for money they were never entitled to take.

The sequence

1. Certify and register the death

A death must be certified by a medical practitioner and registered with the Department of Home Affairs, which issues the death certificate. Where the death occurs at home, the process runs through a medical practitioner and the reporting requirements; where it occurs in hospital or a facility, the facility usually manages it. Funeral undertakers commonly handle the registration on the family’s behalf.

The death certificate is the key that opens everything else: the bank, the Master, the insurer, the pension fund.

2. Find the will

The will identifies the executor and the beneficiaries. If the deceased left no will, the estate is distributed under the Intestate Succession Act, which sets out who inherits and in what shares - usually a spouse and children, then parents, then siblings.

An invalid will is worse than no will, and the common defects are formal: a will not properly signed or witnessed, a later will that revokes an earlier one accidentally, or a will that leaves an asset the deceased no longer owned.

3. Report the estate to the Master

The estate is reported to the Master of the High Court in whose area the deceased lived. The Master appoints an executor and issues letters of executorship, which is the authority to deal with the estate’s assets.

The executor’s job: identify and value the assets, settle the debts, deal with SARS for a tax clearance and an estate tax return, and prepare a liquidation and distribution account for the Master’s approval. Only after the account is approved - and a period allowed for objections - can assets be distributed.

Small estates

Where the estate is below the threshold set in the Administration of Estates Act, the Master may permit the simpler section 18(3) process, which allows the estate to be settled without a full executorship. This exists precisely to keep small estates out of a long and expensive process, and it is worth asking about directly rather than assuming a full administration is required.

What the family should do immediately

Do	Do not
Notify the bank and freeze the account	Use the deceased’s card or online banking
Locate the will and the marriage certificate	Distribute household items among heirs
Notify insurers, the pension fund and the employer	Cancel or change policies in your own name
Keep paying the bond and municipal accounts if you can	Let insurance lapse on an unoccupied home
Keep every document and receipt	Assume the estate will be quick

Insurance policies and pension funds often pay out independently of the will - a nominated beneficiary on a life policy or a retirement fund typically receives the benefit directly, which is why those nominations matter enormously and are so often out of date.

Documents you will need

The paperwork is extensive and repetitive: the death certificate, the marriage certificate where there is a spouse, birth certificates for children, the will, identity documents of the heirs, the title deed for any property, and bank and investment statements. Gathering it once, in a single file, saves weeks later.

Last reviewed 13 October 2026. Estate administration is governed by the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965 and is supervised by the Master of the High Court; this guide is general information, not legal advice. Consult an attorney or fiduciary practitioner for a specific estate.