LAW OF SUCCESSION
STUDY UNITS 1-3B
DISTRIBUTION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS ILLEGAL
**These are key points taken from Word documents. SOME parts are directly quoted, others have been simplified by me. I do not take
credit for any knowledge expressed in this document, only the summary of notes and easy access to key points that I found important**
Du Toit, Francois. (2022). Law of Succession Study Unit 1-3. Unpublished manuscript, PVL2003H, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Laws
- Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 (ISA)
the deceased’s surviving spouse is one of the deceased’s primary
intestate heirs
- S 9 of the Bill of Rights
everyone is equal before the law
the state may not discriminate against anyone based on: race, gender,
sex, ethnic or social origin, colour, religion and birth, etc
- Marriage Act 25 of 1961
According to the MA, the traditional meaning of spouse as used in the
ISA and Maintenance of Surviving Spouses Actin the past: the person
, to whom the deceased was married at the time of his/her death in a
valid, monogamous civil marriage
- Civil Union Act 17 of 2006
- S 13: regulates the legal consequences of a civil union
- S 13(1): the legal consequences of a marriage as contemplated in
the Marriage Act apply to a civil union
- S 13(2): with the exception of the Marriage Act and the
Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998, any
reference to ‘marriage’ in any other law a civil union and
‘husband,’ ‘wife’ or ‘spouse’
- Implication: ‘spouse’ for purposes of the Intestate Succession Act
includes a civil union partner
Latin Terminology
- donatio mortis causa
a contract of donation made in contemplation of the death of the
donor
- moment of dies cedit
the moment that the personal right to claim the property is acquired
by whoever the property is left to
- dies venit
the moment where a beneficiary's vested right against a deceased's
estate becomes enforceable
- Nasciturus fiction
a child that was born alive and conceived prior to the testator's death
is considered to have obtained rights from the moment it was
conceived.
- Commorientes
- people who died simultaneously
- voluntas testatoris servanda est
the wishes of the testator must be implemented
- contra bonos mores
contrary to public policy
- fideicommissum
STUDY UNITS 1-3B
DISTRIBUTION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS ILLEGAL
**These are key points taken from Word documents. SOME parts are directly quoted, others have been simplified by me. I do not take
credit for any knowledge expressed in this document, only the summary of notes and easy access to key points that I found important**
Du Toit, Francois. (2022). Law of Succession Study Unit 1-3. Unpublished manuscript, PVL2003H, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Laws
- Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 (ISA)
the deceased’s surviving spouse is one of the deceased’s primary
intestate heirs
- S 9 of the Bill of Rights
everyone is equal before the law
the state may not discriminate against anyone based on: race, gender,
sex, ethnic or social origin, colour, religion and birth, etc
- Marriage Act 25 of 1961
According to the MA, the traditional meaning of spouse as used in the
ISA and Maintenance of Surviving Spouses Actin the past: the person
, to whom the deceased was married at the time of his/her death in a
valid, monogamous civil marriage
- Civil Union Act 17 of 2006
- S 13: regulates the legal consequences of a civil union
- S 13(1): the legal consequences of a marriage as contemplated in
the Marriage Act apply to a civil union
- S 13(2): with the exception of the Marriage Act and the
Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998, any
reference to ‘marriage’ in any other law a civil union and
‘husband,’ ‘wife’ or ‘spouse’
- Implication: ‘spouse’ for purposes of the Intestate Succession Act
includes a civil union partner
Latin Terminology
- donatio mortis causa
a contract of donation made in contemplation of the death of the
donor
- moment of dies cedit
the moment that the personal right to claim the property is acquired
by whoever the property is left to
- dies venit
the moment where a beneficiary's vested right against a deceased's
estate becomes enforceable
- Nasciturus fiction
a child that was born alive and conceived prior to the testator's death
is considered to have obtained rights from the moment it was
conceived.
- Commorientes
- people who died simultaneously
- voluntas testatoris servanda est
the wishes of the testator must be implemented
- contra bonos mores
contrary to public policy
- fideicommissum
