Estate Duty Evidence Pack Checklist South Africa
Estate-duty planning depends on evidence: ownership, values, deductions, liabilities, policies, matrimonial property and professional calculations. An evidence pack helps the executor and tax practitioner support the estate-duty return without reconstructing years of records after death.
This checklist is general information, not tax or legal advice. SARS requirements and rates can change. Obtain current advice for the estate’s facts.
1. Record identity and marital status
Keep identity records, marriage certificates, antenuptial contracts, divorce orders and agreements that affect ownership. Record the surviving spouse’s details and the evidence used to separate estate property from jointly owned property.
2. Build an asset schedule
List property, investments, cash, business interests, loans, foreign assets, personal assets and deemed-property items. Record legal owner, valuation date, valuer, method and supporting document. Reconcile the schedule to the will and estate inventory.
3. Support property values
Retain title information, municipal or professional valuations, purchase records, improvements and sale evidence. Record mortgages separately from property value. A rough family estimate is not sufficient evidence for a filed calculation.
4. Value business interests
Keep financial statements, shareholder agreements, valuations, dividend history, loans and restrictions on transfer. Record the valuation method and assumptions. Separate the deceased’s shares from assets owned by the company.
5. Document liabilities
Retain settlement letters, loan agreements, statements, tax balances and evidence that each debt was legally enforceable at death. Identify secured debts and related-party claims requiring additional support.
6. Record policy information
List life and Takaful policies, owner, life assured, beneficiary, premiums and claim proceeds. Obtain advice on whether and how each policy enters the estate-duty calculation; beneficiary nomination alone does not answer every tax question.
7. Support deductions and exemptions
Keep documents for spouse-related transfers, administration costs, debts, charitable bequests and other claimed deductions. Link each amount to the relevant will clause, invoice, valuation or professional workpaper.
8. Reconcile donations and prior planning
Record significant donations, trust transactions, asset transfers and related tax submissions. Ensure legal, accounting and tax descriptions agree. Do not assume an earlier transfer is effective without ownership evidence.
9. Track foreign assets and tax
Keep foreign statements, valuations, exchange rates, ownership documents and foreign-tax evidence. Record the deceased’s tax residence and relevant professional advice. Coordinate local and foreign estate administration where required.
10. Link Islamic succession records
Keep Shariah advice and heir information with the estate file, while separating the legal estate-duty calculation from the later distribution analysis. Tax and administration obligations must be established before distributable estate shares are finalised.
11. Maintain a calculation bridge
Show how the gross estate, deemed property, deductions and prior amounts lead to the professional calculation. Note assumptions and unresolved items. This lets reviewers trace every figure to source evidence.
12. Close outstanding evidence
Use an action register for missing valuations, policy letters, tax certificates and legal opinions. Assign an owner and deadline. The estate-duty pack is complete only when each material figure can be supported.
Official starting points
Practical outcome: the executor and tax practitioner should be able to trace every material estate-duty figure to current ownership, valuation, liability or deduction evidence.
