Estate administration

A large portion (proportion) of our assignments involves estate administration in one form or another. In some cases, we act as counsel for one of the parties with an interest in the estate while in other cases we have been appointed by the court to manage and administer the estate; known as 'estate administrator appointments'. Estate administration basically aims to identify all of the deceased's assets and liabilities, pay the debts and then allocate the remainder of the assets in accordance with the deceased's will or law. Even if these measures may appear to be rather simple and clear, estate administration sometimes becomes very complicated and time-consuming.

The legal issues that may arise in conjunction with the administration of an estate may also vary a great deal. These issues might exclusively involve the law of succession, such as questions regarding the interpretation and application of the will, or questions concerning advances on inheritance and the allocation of the remainder of the estate. They may also involve the assessment of disputed or doubtful assets and liabilities of the estate or completely different areas within law. For example, questions may arise involving labour law as well as property and company law or law of associations and tax law issues when the deceased has run a business of some kind.