From the FAQ section Right after a death
No one. Until the Master of the High Court issues the Letters of Executorship or a Letter of Authority, nobody has the legal power to operate the accounts, sell assets or pay creditors. Not a spouse, not a child, not even the person named in the Will. The authority comes only from the Master's appointment.
Being named executor in the Will gives you nothing yet. The authority comes from the Master’s appointment under the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965, not from the Will and not from the family.
Until the Letters are issued:
- Bank accounts in the deceased’s name stay frozen. Being next of kin does not unlock them. Here is why the bank freezes the account.
- Assets cannot be sold or transferred. Not the house, not the car, not the shares.
- Creditors should not be paid out of turn. The law sets the order in which an estate pays its debts. Pay early, and the consequences can fall back on you personally.
What you can do is protect the estate and prepare to report it. Cancel the debit orders you can, keep the house insured, and put every account statement and policy document in one place. That work is not wasted. It is the reporting pack.
The fifteen steps an estate walks
If this is the question you are living through right now, you do not have to work it out alone.
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