Written by: Eugene van der Walt | Afrikaanse weergawe
On 24 September, we celebrate Heritage Day, a day to honour where we come from and what we pass on. Fittingly, September is also National Wills Month, and National Wills Week runs from 14 to 18 September 2026. Heritage is not only about culture and remembrance. It is also about what you leave behind for the people you love, and a will is how you ensure this.
A Sobering Statistic
A recent national survey found that only 28% of South Africans have a valid will. That means the vast majority of people have made no formal plan for what happens to their home, their savings and their belongings after they die. For most families, the consequences of that gap only become clear at the worst possible moment, when they are grieving and suddenly facing legal uncertainty as well.
What a Will Really Protects
A will is a legal document that sets out how your assets are to be distributed after your death. It lets you choose who inherits from you, appoint an executor to wind up your estate and, most importantly for parents, nominate a guardian for your minor children. In a very real sense, a will is the mechanism through which your life’s work becomes your family’s inheritance rather than a source of dispute.
Think of it as the legal side of heritage. The values and memories you pass on cannot be written into law, but the home, the savings and the security you built for your family can be, and a will is how you make sure they reach the right hands.
What Happens If You Die Without One
If you die without a valid will, you die intestate, and your estate is divided according to a rigid formula in the Intestate Succession Act. That formula takes no account of your wishes, your relationships or your family’s actual needs.
The results are frequently not what people would have chosen:
- Your assets are split among your spouse and children by a fixed formula, regardless of what you intended or what your family needs most.
- A life partner to whom you were never legally married may inherit nothing at all.
- If you have no spouse or children, distant relatives may inherit ahead of the people who actually mattered to you.
- The choice of who administers your estate, and who cares for your minor children, is effectively left to others rather than to you.
What Makes a Will Valid
For a will to be valid in South Africa, it must be in writing, and it must be signed by you in the presence of two competent witnesses, and those witnesses must sign it in your presence and in the presence of each other. Small errors in signing or witnessing are among the most common reasons a will is later challenged or rejected, which is exactly why it is worth having one drawn up properly rather than relying on a template found online.
Make This the Year You Do It
Wills Week exists precisely because so many people intend to make a will and never quite get to it. There is no better moment than now, with the campaign running and Heritage Day approaching, to finally put this in place. If you already have a will, use this month to check that it still reflects your life, because a marriage, divorce, birth or major purchase can all make an older will out of date.
Honouring your heritage is not only about looking back with pride. It is also about looking forward with care, and making sure the people who come after you are protected. A will is one of the most meaningful ways to do exactly that.
Van Der Walt and Associates assists clients with wills, estate planning and the administration of deceased estates. Contact us for an initial consultation.
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