Inheritance bill passed

VIRTUALLY without discussion, the National Assembly on Tuesday passed the Estates and Succession Amendment Bill within a week of being introduced.

The new law will force the Master of the High Court and Magistrates to administer the liquidation and distribution of all deceased estates, irrespective of race, testate or not. The new law repeals the discriminatory provisions of the Native Administration Proclamation of 1928 and the whole of the Administration of Estates (Rehoboth Gebiet) Proclamation of 1941, which did not make provision for the estates of black people to be handled outside the parameters of customary law.In 2003, the High Court ruled these proclamations unconstitutional when they were challenged by disgruntled family members of black people who had died intestate.Now, all testate and intestate estates will be governed by the Administration of Estates Act, which is administered by the Master of the High Court.However, the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) warned yesterday that the new law would not protect women in particular from discriminatory customary practices.”There are still different sets of substantive rules for the devolution of intestate estates based on race – various and probably very diverse customary law rules for black people of different ethnic groups, another set of rules for Basters, and the Intestate Succession Ordinance for everyone else (mostly whites and coloureds) – but a unified system of administration for people of all races,” said LAC Executive Director Norman Tjombe.The LAC advised that Government turn its focus in the coming months to embarking on an extensive consultation processes to establish the true state of affairs regarding customary laws in so far as they affect inheritance and related matters.”The Estates and Succession Amendment Bill would unfortunately not deal with the substantive customary law provisions on inheritance when there is no testament,” said Tjombe.Noting that the Children’s Status Bill is currently under discussion in Parliament, the LAC noted that it was necessary to bring customary law in line with the Constitution and international law, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”However, the repeal of the Native Administration Proclamation is in more than one way significant.Its major positive aspect is the transformation from a society where, by statute, one person was subjugated by another, to a society which respects the rights of all,” said Tjombe.To alleviate the burden on the Master’s Office, the new law makes provision for Magistrates to handle the administration of deceased estates under the supervision of the Master.To date, Magistrates have been following a South African practice of appointing someone to administer the estates of black people dying intestate, although they had no statutory power to do so.The new law repeals the discriminatory provisions of the Native Administration Proclamation of 1928 and the whole of the Administration of Estates (Rehoboth Gebiet) Proclamation of 1941, which did not make provision for the estates of black people to be handled outside the parameters of customary law.In 2003, the High Court ruled these proclamations unconstitutional when they were challenged by disgruntled family members of black people who had died intestate.Now, all testate and intestate estates will be governed by the Administration of Estates Act, which is administered by the Master of the High Court.However, the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) warned yesterday that the new law would not protect women in particular from discriminatory customary practices.”There are still different sets of substantive rules for the devolution of intestate estates based on race – various and probably very diverse customary law rules for black people of different ethnic groups, another set of rules for Basters, and the Intestate Succession Ordinance for everyone else (mostly whites and coloureds) – but a unified system of administration for people of all races,” said LAC Executive Director Norman Tjombe.The LAC advised that Government turn its focus in the coming months to embarking on an extensive consultation processes to establish the true state of affairs regarding customary laws in so far as they affect inheritance and related matters.”The Estates and Succession Amendment Bill would unfortunately not deal with the substantive customary law provisions on inheritance when there is no testament,” said Tjombe.Noting that the Children’s Status Bill is currently under discussion in Parliament, the LAC noted that it was necessary to bring customary law in line with the Constitution and international law, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”However, the repeal of the Native Administration Proclamation is in more than one way significant.Its major positive aspect is the transformation from a society where, by statute, one person was subjugated by another, to a society which respects the rights of all,” said Tjombe.To alleviate the burden on the Master’s Office, the new law makes provision for Magistrates to handle the administration of deceased estates under the supervision of the Master.To date, Magistrates have been following a South African practice of appointing someone to administer the estates of black people dying intestate, although they had no statutory power to do so.