Deceased Estate Claims
Maintenance Claims
Our law provides for certain claims to be made against a deceased’s estate. Such claims are usually made by the spouse or the dependants of the deceased. While the law sets out the legal basis for such a claim to be successful, for the estate to be wound up, the claim must be paid out as a lump sum. The actuary is called upon to calculate that lump sum by applying mortality, inflation, and interest assumptions based on the data provided by the party. We provide a list of all the information required to do a calculation that will fully comply with the Maintenance Act for children, or the Maintenance of Surviving Spouses Act for the spouse.
Instruct us nowAccrual Calculation
Where a maintenance claim against a deceased’s estate is based on an ante-nuptial contract where the couple were married out of community of property with accrual, it means that the spouse with the least growth (accrual) in his/her estate can claim for accrual. The actuary updates the commencement values of each spouse’s estate at the date of marriage with CPI inflation to current terms. These include considering the nett value of assets, as well interest in pension funds. The increase in each estate is then calculated by comparing the inflation-adjusted commencement value with the current values of the estates, respectively. The spouse with the lesser accrual then has a maintenance claim for 50% of the difference between the accrual of the respective estates.
Instruct us nowValue of Living Annuity
The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in Montanari v Montanari (1086/2018) [2020] ZASCA 48 that the value of a living annuity falls in the policyholder’s estate on divorce or death. The actuary calculates the value of the living annuity by capitalising the future income stream, allowing for taxation, mortality, and interest. Different values are obtained depending on the assumed drawdown rate, and the actuary will consider several scenarios in order to help advise on a fair value.
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