Wealth your family is ready for.
Trusts, wills, gifts and the family conversations around them, planned by CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals so the next generation inherits well and knows what to do with it.
Sixty minutes, at our cost, at our Durbanville office or online. Couples are welcome.
Who we usually help.
Family wealth planning usually begins at one of these moments.
- You have young children and your will does not say who would manage their inheritance.
- A family trust was set up years ago, and nobody is quite sure what it holds or who is responsible for what.
- You want to help a child with a home, a business or their education, without creating a tax problem or a family dispute.
- You are in a second marriage or a blended family and want everyone provided for fairly.
A plan for every stage.
Family wealth planning is not a single document. It changes as your children grow, and we review it with you as they do.
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When children arrive
Wills, guardians and a trust
Your wills should name guardians and set up a testamentary trust, so that trustees you choose look after the children’s inheritance until an age you set. Without one, money left to a minor can be paid into the state-run Guardian’s Fund and paid out in full at 18.
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School and university
Funding their education
School and university costs can be planned years ahead. A tax-free savings account can be opened in a child’s name, but contributions use the child’s own limits: R46,000 a year and R500,000 over their lifetime (from 1 March 2026).
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When they start earning
Handing over, gradually
Children who are shown how the family’s money works, early and in stages, tend to manage it better when it becomes theirs. We can meet them with you, explain the plan in plain language, and help them start their own.
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When wealth passes
An estate your family can follow
Assets left to a surviving spouse are deducted before estate duty is calculated, which postpones the duty to the second death rather than removing it. We plan both estates together, so the second one is ready too.
A logo gives you a balance sheet. A relationship is what does the actual work.
Independent, and Not Alone, BKA Wealth Journal
Rules worth knowing.
The rules that shape how wealth moves between generations in South Africa.
- Gifts to family
- You can give up to R150,000 a year in total free of donations tax (from 1 March 2026). Above that, donations tax is 20%, rising to 25% once your donations since March 2018 pass R30 million.
- Gifts between spouses
- Gifts between spouses are currently free of donations tax. Treasury has proposed limiting this to spouses who are South African tax residents, backdated to 25 February 2026. It is not law yet, so couples planning to emigrate should take advice first.
- Loans to a family trust
- If you lend money to a family trust at less than the official interest rate (8% since 1 June 2026), the interest you forgo is treated as a donation each year.
- Trust records
- A trustee may act only once the Master of the High Court has issued Letters of Authority. Since 1 April 2023, trustees must also record who the beneficial owners of the trust are, lodge that register with the Master and keep it up to date.
- Children who inherit
- Money left to a child without a testamentary trust can be paid into the Guardian’s Fund, run by the Master of the High Court, and paid out in full when the child turns 18.
- How you are married
- Couples are married in community of property unless they sign a prenuptial agreement before the wedding. How you are married decides what each spouse owns, and so what each of you can leave.
Common questions.
Do I need a trust for my children?
Not always. For most parents of young children, a testamentary trust in your will is enough: it comes into being only on your death and lets trustees you choose look after the inheritance. A trust set up during your lifetime can suit larger estates, but income it keeps is taxed at 45%, and trustees take on legal duties and yearly administration.
Can I give money to my children without paying tax?
Yes, within limits. Up to R150,000 a year in total can be given free of donations tax (from 1 March 2026). You can also contribute to a tax-free savings account in a child’s name, within the child’s own R46,000 annual limit.
How do we start talking to our children about money?
Start with purpose rather than amounts: what the money is for, who looks after it, and what is expected of them. We can host that first conversation with you, and put the family’s plan into a short document everyone can read.
Figures checked on 11 September 2026 against the SARS 2026/27 Budget Tax Guide, National Treasury's Budget Review, the Master of the High Court on the Guardian's Fund and the Department of Justice on trust beneficial ownership. Amounts that apply from 1 March 2026 were announced in Budget 2026 and are applied by SARS; they remain subject to Parliament's legislative process.
Talk your family’s plan through with a CFP® professional.
Sixty minutes at our cost, at our Durbanville office or online. Couples, and the next generation, are welcome to join.
[email protected] · 021 976 0738
Unit 3, Kings Landing Building, 17 King Street, Durbanville, 7550
