Stamp Duties Act, 1968 (Act 77 of 1968)
R 385
Wills Act, 1953 (Act No. 7 of 1953)4A. Competency of persons involved in execution of will |
| (1) | Any person who attests and signs a will as a witness, or who signs a will in the presence and by direction of the testator, or who writes out the will or any part thereof in his own handwriting, and the person who is the spouse of such person at the time of the execution of the will, shall be disqualified from receiving any benefit from that will. |
| (2) | Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1)— |
| (a) | a court may declare a person or his spouse referred to in subsection (1) to be competent to receive a benefit from a will if the court is satisfied that that person or his spouse did not defraud or unduly influence the testator in the execution of the will; |
| (b) | a person or his spouse who in terms of the law relating to intestate succession would have been entitled to inherit from the testator if that testator had died intestate shall not be thus disqualified to receive a benefit from that will: Provided that the value of the benefit which the person concerned or his spouse receives, shall not exceed the value of the share to which that person or his spouse would have been entitled in terms of the law relating to intestate succession; |
| (c) | a person or his spouse who attested and signed a will as a witness shall not be thus disqualified from receiving a benefit from that will if the will concerned has been attested and signed by at least two other competent witnesses who will not receive any benefit from the will concerned. |
| (3) | For the purposes of subsections (1), and (2)(a) and (c), the nomination in a will of a person as executor, trustee or guardian shall be regarded as a benefit to be received by such person from that will. |
[Section 4A inserted by section 7 of Act No. 43 of 1992]
