In an act of frustration, the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (FISA) recently issued a press release raising concerns about delays in winding-up estates.
FISA called on all banks “to investigate why it takes months to provide basic information to Executors to administer deceased estates.”
If this is the level of frustration experienced by professionals, imagine how great the challenges are facing smaller estates, where family members are acting as executors themselves.
According to Reana Steyn, Ombudsman for Banking Services, between 2021 and 2022 the Ombud has seen a noticeable increase of 67% in complaints relating to the administration of deceased estate accounts.
“The issues raised vary and there could be other types of issues at play, but bank delays is certainly one of them,” says Steyn.
Prior to Covid, banks would provide the necessary documentation to wind up an estate within two weeks. That process is now taking months.
Added to the frustration is that, according to Ian Brink, Chairperson of FISA, “the various banks have different procedures which they also sometimes change without consultation, leading to internal confusion among bank staff, as well as huge frustration to FISA members.”
As Angelique Visser, FISA National Councillor explains, delays in closing accounts and paying out the proceeds into the estate can leave families without cashflow to pay basic bills.
Delays in providing a certificate of balance (COB) affects the ability of the executor to wind up the estate and to calculate estate duty.
“There unfortunately seems to be a lack of responsibility on the part of most banks to provide an acceptable level of client service to the Executors and heirs of their clients who held bank accounts and have passed on, some of whom may have banked with the institution for decades,” says Visser.
Lauren Hean of Appleton Fiduciary Services says that prior to the pandemic, the average turnaround time from the banks was around 21 days, yet now, for some banks the standard turnaround period is 90 days.
She cites a case where it took a bank a month to respond to her email and only then did the 90 days turnaround start. “They just pass the buck. No one has the courtesy to respond to my last email.”
The banks, it seems, are facing a crisis. They cite numerous issues including a backlog from the Covid lockdown, continuing higher death rates, increases in fraud, the cyberattack on the Department of Justice last year, and problems with accessing the Master’s Portal to verify letters of executorship.
Banks urgently need to increase their staff numbers to deal with the backlog and higher volume.
According to a statement from the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA), high volumes since the Covid pandemic have resulted in banks having a backlog of Letters of Executorship and Letters of Authority.
“Banks have arranged for staff to work overtime and equipped them with resources to be able to operate from home, among other measures, to deal with the backlog.”
BASA has also raised the issue of the instability of the Master’s Office online portal. This delays the confirmation of appointment letters and subsequent payouts and the closure of deceased accounts, which exacerbates any backlogs.
“Banks experience delays in receiving confirmation of appointment from the Master’s Office; and templates on the portal do not align to the usual appointment letter template, which often results in the customer having to go back to the Master’s Office for additional confirmations to support the validation process. This has been raised by BASA with the Master’s Office with a view to collaborating to find a solution.”
Effect of fraud on winding-up estates
Fraud has increased significantly in relation to deceased estates with fake letters of executorship being presented.
BASA says as a result enhanced verification and control measures must be followed by banks, which may lead to increased processing times. “These controls are required by regulation and market conduct standards, as banks have a legal obligation to safeguard the client’s assets until transfer has been done to the estate.”
Nedbank says that it has “taken proactive steps to manage the delays which are primarily due to outages on the Masters Portal and the dependency on external parties for the submission of the prerequisite documentation, all of which are compounded by large volumes currently being experienced.”
Aneesa Razack, CEO of FNB Fiduciary says FNB is actively involved in efforts to ensure that deceased estates are administered in the best interests of beneficiaries, families, and loved ones.
“We recognise that, over the period of Covid-19, industry processes for winding-up estates have been negatively impacted. This is due in part to a rise in excess deaths, increased fraud, and administrative hurdles that are frequently beyond the control of executors and/or banks.”
One of the solutions is to assist the Master with digitisation. Razack says that “through collaboration with the Banking Association of South Africaand the Chief Master’s Office, FNB is part of efforts to address the current challenges and minimise the adverse impact on beneficiaries and their families.”
Razack also confirmed that the bank is increasing its capacity to help clients and working to improve the processing of smaller estates using data-driven digital platforms. “We believe that these measures will help to shorten the time it takes for winding-up estates.”
This article first appeared in City Press.
Hi Maya, my mother-in-law died in May 2022 and she had her will with a trusted “Wills and Estate Specialist”. My mother-in-law was British and therefore received a British pension. Soon after her death we provided them with the details to notify the pension fund in the UK. We found out in December 2023 that they had not done that and they failed to close her banking accounts, which meant her pension was still going in and debit orders still coming off. We enquired numerous times about this and all I emails were not responded to. So the very thing we were concerned about and raised was never done until very late. They have now given us the distribution account and for a woman that had very little assets, we now have to pay a shortfall of almost 20% of what her house was worth in order to transfer the property on our name. What can we do here? We dont have that type of money and can we hold them accountable for not doing what they were supposed to do (and also please note that we held a policy that covers 90% of the transfer fees). Please help
Please help me. My husband’s estate is now nearly been 4 years and still I am waiting desperately for registration papers for vehicles to do change of ownership
The executor letter was issued in March 2020 but still there is not really much movement.
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There has been a significant delay in winding up estates due to covid. Who is the administrator/executor. If they are not doing their work you can lodge a complaint with the Fiduciary Institute of SA.https://www.fisa.net.za/
The executor in my brother’s estate is facing the same problem as referred to in the article.
My brother passed away on 21 June 2022 and all relevant documents were send to the executor.
A letter of authority for section 18(3) of the Estate Act was issued on 29 July 2022 by the Master of the High Court, Bloemfontein.
According to the bank statement as received on 22 March 2023 from ABSA Bank (still received it monthly) the funds have not been transferred to the estate account since September 2022.
The frustration resulting from the situation is that:
1. 120 days have already passed and still the funds have not been transferred.
2. The balance decreases monthly as a result of bank charges which are still recovered by the bank.
Is there anything that can be done to expedite the matter.
Kind Regards
You can raise this with the Fiduciary Institute of SA https://www.fisa.net.za/
Hi
Over 5 years with Standard bank now for Mr RW Hambly’s estate and they have really done nothing. Standard bank Fraud cannot even find my mother and fathers accounts.
I am hearing so much of these stories, it is frustrating and heart-breaking. You can try lodge a complaint with https://www.fisa.net.za/
Could somebody please assist me with contact details for any of the above mentioned bodies as I have been struggeling with Standard Bank Executors and trust Cape Town for 12 years with my dads estate.
Kind Regards
Renata Lotz
You can contact the fiduciary institute here https://www.fisa.net.za/