It is important not to view estate planning as final stage financial planning designed to secure a financial legacy for your loved ones, but rather as an ongoing process of managing one’s assets and liabilities throughout your lifetime to ensure that your estate is designed to achieve both your lifetime goals and your objectives following your death. Ensuring estate liquidity Having sufficient funds available in your estate is crucial to… Read more
The Important Role of Beneficiary Nomination in Your Estate Plan Estate planning often involves various documents and considerations, from wills to trusts, but one crucial element that sometimes doesn’t receive the attention it deserves is beneficiary nomination. It’s a simple process, yet its implications are significant. The Power of Naming Beneficiaries When you set up financial products like life insurance policies, retirement accounts, or investment accounts, you have the power… Read more
Wills vs. Trusts: Deciding the Right Estate Planning Tool for You Estate planning – the words alone can often conjure images of complex legal documents and endless decisions. Yet, in truth, it’s about securing your legacy and ensuring your assets are handled precisely as you wish, even when you’re no longer around to oversee them. To fulfill this important task, two primary instruments, wills and trusts, take center stage. Understanding… Read more
“The common assumption is that trusts are some kind of tax panacea…Then, conversely, from a South African Revenue Service (SARS) perspective, trusts are viewed with a degree of suspicion and mistrust. [T]he truth lies somewhere between these positions.” (Broomberg on Tax Strategy) The legal and tax landscape in which South African trusts operate has changed substantially over the last few months, thanks to changes to the Trust Property Control Act… Read more