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29/1/1995
It is to be hope that the makers of the constitution for
our new South Africa in the commonwealth of nations will give attention to
the
excessive fees paid to estate executors and bring them in line with members of
the commonwealth.
An amount equal to 3,5% of the estate is paid to the
executor of my estate when I die and a further 3,5% is paid out of the estate
when my wife dies. This means 7% plus VAT is deducted from our hard earned
savings that were meant to benefit our heirs.
In recent years the fee was
raised from 2,5% to 3,5% which is an increase of 40%. This increase was not
necessary for the following
reason.
We purchased property 20
years ago for R50 000 which has increased in value and the average bank balance
has increased accordingly.
So it can be assumed that the average estate has
increased tenfold and therefore an executor of years ago would possibly be paid
a fee of 2,5% of say R100 000 which is R2500 for an estate of tenfold value
which is Rl 000 000 of today.
So the increase was not necessary
percentage wise for the very obvious reasons
that the increased fee is built
into the increased value of estates.
Yours
truly
L.S. Farr
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