Simple will template

Almost every will that fails does so for one of two reasons. Either it was signed wrongly, in which case it is usually treated as if it never existed, or it was written so vaguely that the family spent a year arguing about what it meant. Neither failure is about legal cleverness. Both are about care taken on the day.

What this document does and when to use it

This is a fill-in will for a simple South African estate, drawn to meet the formalities in the Wills Act 7 of 1953. A will does one thing: it says who gets what you own after you die, and who is trusted with sorting it out. If you die without a valid will, your estate is divided under the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 according to a fixed order of relatives, which may be nothing like what you would have chosen. The intestate succession calculator shows what that order would produce in your family.

Use this template if you have no will at all, or one that no longer matches your life. A will made before a marriage, a divorce, the birth of a child or the sale of a house is describing somebody else's circumstances. The template opens with the signing rules rather than burying them at the back, because those rules decide whether the rest of it counts.

Before you start: this form suits a simple estate only

Be honest about which category you are in, because this is the one decision in the whole exercise that cannot be corrected later.

A form is suitable only if your affairs are straightforward: a modest home, a car, a bank account, a policy or two, and a clear idea of who should receive them.

See an attorney instead of using this form if you own a business or a share in one, own a farm, own assets in another country, are in a blended family or a second marriage, have a beneficiary with a disability or on a state grant, are married in community of property and are not sure what is actually yours to leave, or think your estate may be large enough to attract estate duty. Each of those carries a trap a form cannot see. A business needs a succession plan. Foreign assets may need a separate will in that country. A blended family raises competing claims a plain residue clause will not resolve. A beneficiary on a grant can lose the grant by inheriting cash. An hour with an attorney is far cheaper than the litigation that follows a homemade will in any of them. The executor fees and estate duty calculator will tell you whether you are near that line.

Then do three pieces of homework. List what you own and what you owe, with rough values. Mark separately the things that pass outside your will, usually retirement fund benefits and policies with a nominated beneficiary, because you cannot bequeath those. And ask your chosen executor whether they are willing to act.

Walking through it, clause by clause

Clause 1, revocation. "I revoke all wills, codicils and other testamentary writings previously made by me." One sentence, and it stops an old will competing with the new one. It only works properly if you also destroy the old original.

Clause 2, marital status. More important than it looks. It records the matrimonial property regime, then says: "where I am married in community of property, this will disposes only of my half share of the joint estate." If you are in community of property, half of everything already belongs to your spouse, and a will leaving the whole house to a child is describing something you do not own.

Clause 3, children. Full names, dates of birth, identity numbers. The closing sentence extends the will to "any child born to or legally adopted by me after the date of this will", so a later child is not accidentally excluded.

Clause 4, appointment of executor. Name a person and an alternate. Clause 4.3 asks the Master of the High Court to exempt the executor from furnishing security, which is worth keeping, because security costs money and takes time. Clause 4.4 gives the executor the powers under the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965. Clause 4.5 lets the executor hand over an asset in place of cash, which is how a family keeps the car rather than watching it be sold. Read what an executor does and how much they charge before you choose.

Clause 5, debts and administration costs. These come out of the residue before anything is distributed, which is why the residue clause matters more than the specific bequests.

Clause 6, specific bequests. Use these for named things: a vehicle, a piece of jewellery, a fixed sum. Describe the asset so a stranger could identify it. Clause 6.4 holds the sentence people most often miss: "If an asset I have specifically bequeathed no longer forms part of my estate at my death, the bequest of that asset lapses and the beneficiary receives nothing in its place." Sell the car and that beneficiary gets nothing. If you want them to have value regardless, leave a percentage of the residue instead.

Clause 7, the residue. This is the clause that actually distributes your estate, because everything not specifically bequeathed falls into it. Choose one of the three options and delete the others. If you use percentages, make them total one hundred. A residue clause covering only part of the estate leaves the rest to be divided under the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987, which is what you were trying to avoid.

Clause 8, substitution and survivorship. What happens if a beneficiary dies before you, or in the same accident. The survivorship period in 8.1, commonly thirty days, stops an estate passing twice in a fortnight.

Clause 9, guardianship. Nominate a guardian for children under 18, and an alternate. Clause 9.3 is honest about the limit: "this is a nomination. A court may make a different order if it is in the best interests of the child."

Clause 10, testamentary trust. Optional, and flagged in the template as the one part that really should be checked by an attorney. Without a trust, a minor's cash inheritance is ordinarily paid into the Guardian's Fund at the Master's office until the child turns 18. See what a testamentary trust is.

Clause 11, funeral wishes. A wish, not a direction, because funerals happen before wills are read.

A worked example

This example is illustrative only.

Johannes Botha is married in community of property and lives in Bloemfontein with two children. He owns a house with a bond, two vehicles, a savings account and a life policy naming his wife Maria.

Clause 2 records that he can leave only his half share. He leaves the policy out of the will entirely, because it pays to Maria directly under the nomination. He appoints Maria as executor and his brother as alternate. Clause 6 bequeaths his bakkie, described by make, model and registration number, to his brother. Clause 7 leaves the whole residue to Maria, and 8.2 sends her share to the children in equal parts if she does not survive him by thirty days. Clause 9 nominates his sister as guardian. He keeps clause 10, sets the trust age at 21, and has an attorney read it before he signs.

He signs on a Saturday morning at his kitchen table with two neighbours present, neither of whom inherits anything and neither of whom is married to anyone who does.

The mistakes that make one of these useless

Getting the signing wrong. A will that does not meet the formalities is usually treated as if it never existed, and the estate is divided under the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 instead. Your wishes count for nothing.

Letting a beneficiary, or a beneficiary's spouse, witness the will. The will usually survives, but that person generally loses what you left them. The cost falls on the very person you were providing for.

Leaving no residue clause, or one that does not add up to the whole. Whatever it fails to cover passes under the intestate rules, and the will only works halfway.

Bequeathing something you do not own. The other half of a joint estate, or a fund benefit that passes outside the estate. The bequest simply fails.

Signing a new will and leaving the old original in the drawer. Two originals in circulation invites a dispute. See can a will be contested.

Signing it properly

This is the most important section on this page. Read it before you print anything.

The will must be in writing. Typed or handwritten both work. A voice note, a video, an email or a text message is not a will.

You sign at the end of the will, and on every other page. Your signature at the end goes after the last clause. Anything written below your signature is at risk of being ignored, so leave nothing there. Then sign every other page in full, at the foot of the page. The template gives you a line for each page for exactly this reason.

Two competent witnesses, aged 14 or older, must be present. A witness must be able to understand what they are doing and be capable of giving evidence in a court. They do not have to read the will and they do not need to know what is in it.

Both witnesses must be present at the same time, in the same room, watching you sign at the end.

The witnesses then sign in your presence and in each other's presence, at the end of the will, and as good practice on every other page too.

A witness must not be a beneficiary, and must not be the spouse of a beneficiary. A beneficiary, or the spouse of a beneficiary, who signs as a witness generally loses the benefit the will gives them, even though the will itself usually stays valid. The same risk applies to the executor, the guardian and the trustees you name, and to their spouses, because a nomination is treated as a benefit. Use two neutral adults, neighbours or colleagues, who get nothing under the will.

Nobody signs in another room or on another day. One sitting, one table, everybody present from the first signature to the last. A witness who signs later, or who steps out and signs in the passage, can break the whole will.

If you cannot sign your name, and would instead make a mark or ask another person to sign for you, a different and stricter procedure applies, including a certificate by a commissioner of oaths. Do not use this form on your own in that situation.

A will is not notarised, stamped or registered anywhere in South Africa. There is no central register. The signed original is the only document that counts, and the Master of the High Court needs that original after your death, not a photocopy. Keep it somewhere dry and safe that will not flood, burn or be thrown out, tell your executor and your alternate exactly where it is, tell one other person you trust the same thing, and give your executor a copy clearly marked as a copy.

If any of the above did not happen, do not patch it with a note or a fresh signature on the old pages. Print a clean set and sign the whole will again from the start. Then destroy every earlier original.

If it does not work, or what happens next

If a will is found to be invalid, the estate is administered under the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987, and the assets go to the surviving spouse, descendants and other relatives in a fixed order that takes no account of what the deceased wanted. There is a route to ask a court to accept a document that fails the formalities but was clearly intended as a will. It is expensive, slow and uncertain, and it is not a plan.

Either way, the estate must be reported to the Master of the High Court within 14 days of death. The deceased estate reporting checklist sets out that process.

Help exists. Banks and trust companies often draft a simple will at no charge if you appoint them as executor, which is a trade rather than a gift. Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110 gives advice on wills to people who pass its means test, and university law clinics assist for nothing. Read how to write a valid will against whatever you have signed.

LawMatch is not a law firm and this is not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Does my will have to be typed?

No. Handwritten is fine, as long as it is in writing and signed correctly. A recording, a video, an email or a message is not a will.

Do I need to register my will somewhere?

No. A will is not notarised, stamped or registered anywhere in South Africa, and there is no central register. That is why the location of the signed original matters so much.

Can my brother be both a witness and my executor?

It is a bad idea. The nomination of an executor is treated as a benefit, so an executor who witnesses the will risks losing that appointment. Use two neutral witnesses who get nothing under it.

Does my will cover my pension and my life policy?

Usually not. Retirement fund benefits and policies with a nominated beneficiary generally pass outside the estate, directly to the nominee. Keep those nominations up to date separately, because your will cannot fix them.