Estate planning and wills

Estate and financial planning is not a once-off process and in most instances the scope of the planning will lie somewhere between the elementary and the comprehensive, depending on the size and the complexity of the planning that has to be done.

Join us for an eight-hour course, held over four days, which will provide the foundation for good estate planning and its culmination in a will that reflects the true intention of the testator or testatrix. The course will illuminate the law and how these legal principles apply in practice, by means of a case study.

When and where?

2 to 5 June 2025, 9:00 to 11:00 SAST

This course will be held remotely, most likely on Zoom - exact details will be sent to registered participants a few days before the course.

Course outline

An estate and financial plan has to incorporate not only the needs and preferences of the estate owner, but also the existing law, tax legislation and economic factors. All these factors have a bearing on each subsequent step in the process.

It is important that all concerned in the estate planning process should have a good understanding of:

Marriage and matrimonial property law, which is the starting point of the estate planning process
The law of succession, limited rights and the calculation of limited rights (usufructs, fideicommissum and annuities)
Estate duty, capital gains tax and donations tax implications
Generally-used estate planning techniques
The drafting of wills: the relevant legal issues and tax considerations as well as practical planning pointers

Who will benefit from this course?

All practitioners (attorneys, financial and other advisers) and laymen, especially those seeking to broaden their horizons with regard to holistic estate planning and wills in South Africa. Lawyers who would like to update their knowledge.

Presenter

Renette Hendriks has been with Personal Trust (Pty) Ltd for 16 years and currently serves on the board as Director of Legal and Fiduciary Services. She studied law at the University of Stellenbosch where she served as Junior Lecturer and obtained a Masters Degree in 2002. She further obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning from the University of the Free State in 2019.

She started out her career in the fiduciary industry at PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2002 and was admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa in the same year. She went on to join Standard Executors and Trustees, the fiduciary division of Standard Bank, in 2003 where she fulfilled the role as Senior Manager. She joined Personal Trust in 2007.

As part of her current portfolio, Renette serves as Trustee on numerous trusts and charitable foundations on behalf of Personal Trust, overseeing all legal and technical aspects of these entities.

Renette further oversees the Wills and Estates side of the business and takes up appointment as Executor on behalf of Personal Trust. She is a registered member of the Fiduciary Institute of South Africa (FISA) and in good standing with the Master of the High Court.

How much?

R3,960 per person

Certificate

A digital certificate of attendance from UCT will be issued to those who attend the full course.

How to sign up

Complete and submit the registration form. You will then be given the payment information. Please note that registrations will not be considered complete until payment has been made.

One or two days before the course, we will send you the Zoom link. You will need to register and use a password to access the course.

Registrations close three days before the course starts.

Download the brochure.