Executor's fees in South Africa: the 3.5% rule, and what an estate really costs
Executor remuneration is capped by law, but plenty of families pay the maximum without knowing it was negotiable. How the fees work and what else the estate pays.
When someone dies, their estate pays an executor to wind it up. The tariff is set by regulation: a maximum of 3.5% of the gross value of estate assets, plus VAT if the executor is registered, plus 6% of any income the estate earns after death. On a R5 million estate, that is up to R201,250 including VAT before anything else is paid.
The fee is a maximum, not a price
Banks and insurers commonly charge the full tariff, written into the will they helped draft. But the fee is negotiable, ideally when the will is drafted rather than after death. We agree our executor's fee upfront, in writing, and put the number in front of you before you nominate us. That is what fee transparency means in fiduciary work.
What else the estate pays
- Estate duty: 20% of the dutiable estate above the R3.5 million abatement, 25% above R30 million. Bequests to a spouse are exempt, and a surviving spouse can use the deceased's unused abatement.
- Capital gains tax: death is a deemed disposal, with a R440,000 exclusion in the year of death (2026/27).
- Master's fees, advertising, valuation and conveyancing costs where property transfers.
- Outstanding income tax to the date of death, which the executor must finalise with SARS.
Estates also need cash. If everything is tied up in property and the estate cannot pay duty and fees, heirs face forced sales or borrowing. A liquidity check is one of the most valuable parts of estate planning, and it takes an hour.
Timeframes, honestly
A straightforward estate takes 10 to 24 months: reporting to the Master, the executor's account lying open for inspection, and statutory advertising all carry fixed waiting periods. What a competent executor controls is everything between the waiting periods. Drift is where estates lose years, and drift is preventable.
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