COVID-19 VACCINE SUPPLY 21 JANUARY 2021 A proverbial storm has developed around South Africa’s procurement, or the perceived lack thereof, of Covid-19 vaccines. People are understandably anxious. I therefore compiled this note from publicly available information, and...

In a recent court case, van Rensburg v van Rensburg N.O. and Others (24 March 2020) issues around a testamentary trust were highlighted yet again. As the will of a deceased person forms the trust instrument, no further trust instrument is required to be lodged with...

A lesbian couple have launched an application in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) intended to block an artificial insemination sperm donor from claiming parental rights to their child. A notice filed by lawyers for the couple indicated that the couple, in a...

You can have a wedding ceremony in a church with a minister’s blessing … but that does not necessarily mean you are legally married.  This emerged when a woman sought continued maintenance from her ex-husband who believed he was no longer liable to pay as she had...

December 1st, 2020 The increased tendency of South Africans to establish geographically diversified estates – whether as a result of cross-border travelling, studying, work or business opportunities – has complicated not only their own lives, but also those of their...

As a general rule, income received by, or accrued to, a discretionary trust will be taxed in the hands of the trust, unless it is distributed before the trust’s financial year end (February each year) to a South African resident beneficiary, in which case it will be...

Outsiders often assume that trustees have both the authority and the capacity to enter into transactions binding the trust. If trustees have not ensured that these requirements are met, to what extent can outsiders be deemed to have known? In the instance of companies...

The SARB is moving away from the concept of emigration. This will necessitate changes to the Income Tax Act which has references to emigration in relation to taking retirement fund amounts out of South Africa. Currently, if you formally emigrate, you are permitted to...

Often the testator or testatrix directs in his or her will that his or her assets be transferred into a trust to be formed upon his or her death. A testamentary trust is then formed upon his or her death and the terms of the last will and testament form the terms of...