Family – Trust and Wills – Cape Town, South Africa

Our law offices boast a well-renowned family legal consultancy that aims to offer professional legal advice and guidance where necessary. Let us discuss trusts and wills.

Family Trust Registrations

The objective of a trust is to help manage your assets more efficiently. A trust allows you to dictate how and when you would want your assets to be distributed.

Before going forth with a trust, you need to understand why you’re getting a trust. The following are important pointers to consider when getting a trust:

• Understand why you are setting up the trust: think about the purpose of the trust.
• What type of trust would you like to set up: find out more about the different types of trusts and make a call as to which trust you will require.
• Property and assets: think about how you like to set out the rules of the trust, and think about how this will govern your property and assets.
• Beneficiaries: the person who will benefit from your assets. Think about who your beneficiaries are and how they will benefit – will it be a few beneficiaries or will it be an institution?
• Trustee: this is the one who is in charge of the trust. He/she must understand the expectations and rules of the trust and ensure that all is in order.
• Rules: different trusts have different rules. Your legal expert will explain this to you when attempting to register your trust. It is important that the rules are carried out accordingly.

For more on our legal guidance regarding Trusts, connect with us. Bear in mind that a professional legal consultation is essential for understanding the factors at play when providing legal guidance for a Trust.

Family Trust vs. Your Last Will and Testament

First of all, a will is a written document signed with witnesses that indicates how your assets will be distributed at the time of your death. A will is effective only after your death, by which all wishes of the deceased must be carried out accordingly.

Therefore, a Trust can operate during your lifetime or after your death. However, a will will only have effect after your death. You may also put in your will that after you die, a trust should be formed dealing with certain assets of your estate.