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Johannesburg - The chief master of the high court has
announced that fiduciary practitioners and the public will now be able to track
trust and estate administration matters online.
According to chief master Advocate Lester Basson, who
recently addressed the Fiduciary Institute of South Africa (Fisa), masters'
offices spend too much time drawing files and answering questions by members of
the public relating to the contents of files.
"Sometimes it is not clear in which office a certain
file is kept and this leads to frustrations and delay.
"Steps have been taken to ease these problems by giving
members of the public access to a public portal with information on the
master's office integrated case management system. Information on the portal is
updated daily."
Now members of the public can find out online exactly in
which master's office a deceased estate is being administered and obtain the
reference number, Basson noted.
"This is a work in progress," he said. "More
information will be available soon, for instance details of the executor and
accounts lodged and examined by the master."
The portal link for members of the public is:
https://icmsweb.justice.gov.za/mastersinformation
The module for deceased estates has been developed further
than the modules for insolvencies, liquidations, curatorships/guardianships and
trusts.
The project has been initiated and guided by Tienie Cronje,
a researcher of the South African Law Reform Commission.
Fisa has welcomed the news, saying it will streamline
processes for executors and should lead to a significant improvement to
turnaround times for the finalisation of deceased estates in particular.
Fisa chairperson John Gibson said: "This system will
not only improve efficiencies, but will also assist executors in many other
ways.
"A nominated executor will for instance be able to
establish whether a later or earlier will was lodged with the master's office
before he proceeds with the administration of the estate.
"This will save time and prevent family members from
having to attend unnecessary meetings during a very emotional time."