Chris Fick & Associates

Trustees: Your New Duty to Report Beneficial Owners

“National Treasury, therefore, expects that if South Africa continues to make significant improvements in effectiveness and swiftly exits grey listing, it will have a limited impact on financial stability and costs of doing business with South Africa, particularly if South Africa moves speedily to get out of grey listing.” (National Treasury) South Africa’s grey listing […]

Trusts on divorce: Are you stuck with an ex-spouse as trustee?

“Love is grand. Divorce is a hundred grand.” (Anon) Trusts may be formed for a variety of reasons, and the purpose and structure of each trust will inform the choice of trustees. When it comes to families aiming to preserve and protect family assets for future generations, often both spouses are appointed not only as […]

Dementia and incapacity: What is a power of attorney and is it forever?

“The number of cases of dementia is estimated to almost triple by 2050” (World Health Organisation) Although the actual prevalence per capita of dementia is reportedly on the decline, aging populations ensure that it is becoming more and more of a problem in society – for older people, their families and caregivers. If someone close […]

Trustees at war: The removal remedy and its limits

“Animosity and difference of opinion are not sufficient to have a trustee removed from office and/or for the majority of trustees to unilaterally force another to vacate his/her office…” (Extract from judgment below) When family infighting impacts a family trust, an early casualty is often the relationship between the appointed trustees and beneficiaries, and/or between […]

Suing an insolvent debtor – Can you recover from his trust?

Your debtor owes you a fortune, but when his estate is sequestrated there is nothing in his own name. However you find out that he is trustee of a wealthy family trust with lots of assets that you think are really his – can you recover from his trust? The answer is yes, you can, […]

Trusts: New directive on independent trustees

If you plan to form a trust, you need to know about a new directive from the Chief Master of the High Court to all Master’s Offices in the country. The directive applies to all new trusts (those “registered for the first time”) by the Master. Following a series of court cases in which the […]