Why your will is the most important document you’ll ever sign

Your signature is used at big moments in life. Signing an employment contract for a new job. Saying “I do” to the love of your life. Registering the birth of your new baby. Qualifying for vehicle finance and driving off in a new set of wheels. Becoming a homeowner by putting your signature to a home loan agreement at the bank.

Our hearts beat faster in these moments. They are the things we live and work for. These are important milestones and shared experiences with the people we care about. Your signature is your personal commitment to each one of these.

While you'll sign many important documents in your life, none is more significant than your last will and testament — it validates this essential document. Without your signature, and those of accompanying witnesses’, the Master of the High Court essentially rules your will invalid unless proven otherwise, but this is not easy to do.

In the last 12 years, the wills and estates specialists at Capital Legacy have helped hundreds of thousands of South Africans draft their wills, get them signed, witnessed and into safe custody. They do this as they know that without a signed will, you set your family up for chaos and drama when you pass away.

Losing a loved one is not easy, but Capital Legacy's mission is to help make the loss of a loved one easier. Not easy — just a little bit easier. This mission has become its promise to clients who put their trust in the company to look after their families and legacies when they’re gone.

It’s a responsibility that drives it to be the most efficient and innovative wills and estates business in the country. This year alone it has helped transfer more than R3bn worth of inheritances to beneficiaries through the successful finalisation of deceased estates.

Your written fingerprint

Every signature is unique — like a fingerprint. No two are exactly the same. Behind every signature is a story, a family, hopes, dreams and a legacy. So when you sign your will, you are placing your trust in your appointed executors to deliver on your final wishes, so do choose your executors with care.

Capital Legacy cherishes every client signature as a bond to deliver on its promise and then backs this with a full complement of dedicated partners and in-house experts around the country — including specialists in deceased estate property conveyancing, tax, trusts, legal and finance — who are all aligned and in your corner, to help make the arduous task of administering a deceased estate as quick and easy as possible.

Valuable invisible stuff

Capital Legacy delivers on its promise through countless tasks that happen in the background every day — from helping clients draft, sign and collect their wills, to administering deceased estates, transferring properties or setting up trusts and supporting beneficiaries.

Capital Legacy founder Alex Simeonides refers to this as the “valuable invisible stuff” that sets their work apart from competitors.

The list of these “valuable invisible things” includes:

1. Property conveyancing: Capital Legacy works with dedicated property conveyancing partners who specialise in deceased estate property transfers because this type of conveyancing is more complex than regular transfers and can hold up the estate administration process.
   
   
2. Document library: Capital Legacy has a centralised document library from where they can supply the necessary copies and make them available, safely and securely, to the various practitioners involved in the estate administration. Thanks to this holistic approach to estate administration, bereaved families only have to supply required documentation once, not repeatedly to different practitioners.
   
   
3. Automatic hazard warnings: The integrated Capital Legacy system automatically creates an estate administration task list for the estate practitioner who is dedicated to the estate, to complete. It automatically flags tasks that may take longer, for example if the deceased owned multiple properties, or a firearm, so that resources can be allocated accordingly and delays avoided.
   
   
4. Beneficiary portal: Beneficiaries get a unique online link where they can track their loved one’s estate at every step — from anywhere, at any time. Beneficiaries can also see names and details of people working on the estate so they know who to deal with.
   
   
5. Estate milestone tracking: Capital Legacy continually monitors milestones to ensure the administration remains on track. They have devised a set of internal business rules, setting out when an estate is expected to reach a certain milestone and if that does not happen, the necessary resources are allocated to clear the roadblock, make sure the estate reaches that milestone and moves forward.

Click here to see more of the "valuable invisible things" Capital Legacy does.

“We are extremely proud of our executorship track record. We work hard to improve on it every day because we know this makes a meaningful difference to loved ones left behind,” says Deenisha Nadesan, executive director of Estates at Capital Legacy.

“We also stay in regular contact with our beneficiaries throughout the estate administration process because we understand how confusing and overwhelming it can feel to finalise the affairs of a loved one who has passed away.”

Capital Legacy offers in-person, telephonic or virtual will consultations. It also has an easy three-step online will-drafting tool for people who prefer to draft their own wills. There is no charge year-round for drafting, amending, collecting, safekeeping or retrieval of a Capital Legacy will.

Speak to your financial adviser or contact Capital Legacy today.

This article was sponsored by Capital Legacy.