Leaving property in a will - ow.ly/DcATh When it comes to leaving fixed property to someone in your will, unless you have had professional assistance in drafting the will you may be creating unnecessary complications for those you intend to inherit the property, as problems dealing with fixed properties held in your estate can easily arise. Any property bequeathed in terms of your will must devolve upon the beneficiary free of any mortgage bond and one should ensure that there is either bond liability insurance cover or assets held in your estate which may be easily realised to discharge this liability. This is according to David Knott of Private Client Trust, who says firstly, one should consider how you are married as this influences your capacity to distribute assets after your death. If you are married in community of property, you only own one half of all assets registered both in your name and that of your spouse - notwithstanding how the assets may be registered and when the assets were acquired, he says. Your spouse therefore still remains as one half share owner of any fixed property you may have bequeathed to a third party. To complicate matters further, say you have bequeathed your half share to your minor children and the property is bonded - if there is insufficient monies to discharge the bond, the property will probably end up having to be sold as few financial institutions, if any, will agree to lend to minors, he explains. Any property bequeathed in terms of your will must devolve upon the beneficiary free of any mortgage bond and one should ensure that there is either bond liability insurance cover or assets held in your estate which may be easily realised to discharge this liability.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 07:40:05 +0000
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