Required Documents for Transferring Ownership

Losing a parent is a challenging time for any child, and one of the tasks they must face is sorting out the administration of their deceased parent’s estate. This process includes transferring ownership of assets like vehicles. To do so, one must first obtain Letters of Executorship from the Master.

The Executor, usually a responsible family member such as an adult child or surviving spouse, acts on behalf of the deceased person to close bank accounts, sell vehicles, and handle other estate matters. They are assisted by a professional qualified to wind up deceased estates, like Siyatec Executors.

The Master is an institutional branch of the High Court of South Africa responsible for facilitating the administration of deceased estates. To obtain Letters of Executorship, you need to report the estate to the Master situated closest to where your deceased parent lived. You will need to complete and sign a bundle of standard Master’s forms and provide supporting documents such as the deceased’s ID and Death Certificate, a Will nominating an Executor or a Nomination Form, the nominated Executor’s ID, and a Marriage Certificate if the deceased was married. Siyatec Executors can assist you with the winding up of your deceased parent’s estate, offering affordable rates and a convenient online approach to administering a deceased estate. They communicate with clients through online consultations, email, or Whatsapp, and are available for in-person meetings if necessary. If you are the child of a person who has passed away, Siyatec Executors’ services can guide you through this difficult process.

The problem for any child when they lose a parent is that they now have to sort out the administration of their deceased parent’s estate. It’s not only children inheriting large estates with houses that require professional assistance with estates. A simple matter of transferring ownership of your mother or father’s vehicle also requires that before anything can be done with the vehicle – you first have to obtain Letters of Executorship from the Master. The same applies to any apparently small matter, such as bank accounts or policies that need to claimed – if a signature is required, an Executor must be appointed by the Master.

Our website contains more information about the role of the Executor and the Master. For now, the Executor refers to the duly authorised person who can do things on behalf of the deceased person, such as close bank accounts and sell vehicles. The Executor is usually a responsible family member such as an adult child or surviving spouse of the deceased. However, the family member who is the Executor is assisted by a professional qualified to wind up deceased estates. The Executor is authorised by the Master which is an institutional branch of the High Court of South Africa mandated to facilitate the administration of deceased estates. Estate professional’s such as Siyatec, assist families with the winding up of deceased estates.

For example, if you need to take ownership of your late mother or father’s car, you first need to obtain Letters of Executorship from the Master. This entails reporting the estate to the Master situated closest to where your deceased parent lived. There’s a bundle of standard Master’s forms to be completed and signed. Supporting documents are also required. These supporting documents depend on the particular estate that’s being reported, but generally the following supporting documents are required:

• ID and Death Certificate of the deceased;
• Will nominating an Executor or if there is no Will a Nomination Form signed by all the heirs of the deceased parent nominating a family member as an Executor;
• ID of the nominated Executor; and
• Marriage Certificate if the deceased was married.

At Siyatec we can assist you with the winding up of your deceased parent’s estate – however small it may be. Our rates are affordable. We have a convenient online approach to administering a deceased estate. We are available to meet if necessary, but most people prefer to use our online consultation and communicate with us via email or Whatsapp.

If you are the child of a person who has passed away, you may need our services.

Author: Wafiq Davids (B SocSci, LL.B.)
Attorney, Notary, Conveyancer and Legal Consultant at Siyatec Executors

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