Momentum Trust FAQs

An Estate Plan benefits anyone who owns assets or earns an income by allowing you to maintain control over how your assets are managed, preserved, and distributed, especially in the event of death. It provides legal and financial security for your beneficiaries, while helping to prevent potential conflicts among loved ones.

It's advisable to seek the guidance of a professional to assist with drafting your Will as your Will is the only legal document that deals with all of your assets. Your Will and your financial plan should "talk" to each other. Rather have a specialist draft your Will that is legally correct and in accordance with your wishes.

We can assist with drafting a Worldwide Estate Will however, due to different legal systems in certain countries, it's advisable to discuss this with your financial adviser.

Speak to a Momentum consultant to draft an executable Will backed by an Estate Plan to cover the costs of dying.

While life cover provides financial support to your dependents after your death, the Momentum Estate Plan offers not only specialised estate cover that addresses the unique costs and complexities of winding up an estate, but also the services associated in comprehensive estate planning:

• Will drafting: Access to a simplified, in-house Will-drafting service.
• Life insurance cover: Indemnifies the estate for estate duty, capital gains tax (CGT), executor’s fees, property transfer costs, testamentary Trust fees, and other estate-related expenses.
• Immediate family cash payout: Quick payout to a nominated beneficiary for urgent expenses like funeral costs.
• Estate Booster: Provides extra liquidity to the estate if death taxes are low or not payable.
• Cover transfer to surviving spouse: Automatically transfers cover to a surviving spouse, with no new underwriting or premiums.
• Inheritance Booster: Additional payout to the spouse’s estate if both spouses pass away.
• Fiduciary Services: Access to professional executor, estate administration, and Trust services.

To find out more about these benefits, you can request a call back for a Momentum consultant to schedule a consultation to understand how The Momentum Estate Plan can meet your specifics needs.

Under the Momentum Estate Plan, the Family Cash Feature provides an instant cash benefit to a nominated beneficiary.

Here’s how it works:

• Benefit amount: A lump sum equal to 5% of the Insured Estate Value at the time of death.
• Payment destination: Paid directly to the nominated beneficiary (not to the estate, unless no beneficiary is nominated).
• Purpose: To give loved ones quick access to cash for urgent expenses like funeral costs, travel, or temporary income needs.
• Timing: Paid within 48 hours of receiving the required claim documents.

Example:

If the Insured Estate Value is R8 million, the Family Cash payout will be R400,000 (5% x R8 million). To get the most value, make sure a beneficiary is nominated for this payout.

The Momentum Estate Plan’s life cover aspect provides indemnity for a range of estate costs, including:

• Estate Duty
• Capital Gains Tax (CGT) due to deemed disposal at death
• Executor’s fees
• Property Transfer costs
• Testamentary trustee administration fees
• Master’s Office-related fees
• Other qualifying estate-related expenses

These costs are covered through the plan’s Death Taxes Indemnity, Estate Costs Indemnity, and Testamentary Trust Indemnity features, ensuring your estate has the liquidity needed to settle these expenses without burdening your heirs.

If there is any residual life cover after all your estate costs have been covered under the Momentum Estate Plan, the plan provides additional benefits to ensure the value is not lost:

Estate Booster feature:

• If the Death Taxes Indemnity payout (for estate duty and CGT) is less than 15% of the Insured Estate Value, the Estate Booster feature activates.
• The Estate Booster pays the difference (up to 15% of the Insured Estate Value) directly into your estate, providing extra liquidity.
• This helps prevent forced asset sales and can speed up inheritance payouts or increase the inheritance value for your heirs.

Cover Transfer feature (if you have a surviving spouse):

• If your spouse inherits some or all of your assets, the remaining cover (Insured Estate Value) is transferred to them.
• The transferred cover continues to grow, no premiums are required, and no underwriting is needed for your spouse.
• This ensures estate planning continuity and further protection for your family.

This structure ensures that any unused life cover is used to enhance your estate’s liquidity or transferred to your spouse for ongoing protection.

You will always need a Will but you will not always need a Trust. If there are minor beneficiaries or beneficiaries with special needs that could inherit from your Estate, it is advisable to have a Trust in place. Speak to your financial adviser to find out if you need a Trust, and which Trust structure will be best suited to your requirements.

You can nominate a responsible adult over the age of 18 or a professional Trust Administrator such as Momentum Trust. For added expertise and peace of mind, it’s recommended choosing to nominate a professional Trust administrator or Trustee to ensure the Trust is managed properly and in the best interests of the beneficiaries.

No, a Trust cannot exist without beneficiaries. In South African law, a Trust must have clearly identifiable beneficiaries. The core purpose of a Trust is to manage assets for the benefit of someone else, making it an important tool for inheritance planning. Without beneficiaries, there’s no valid reason for the Trust to exist.

Failing to report a deceased estate can lead to legal and financial consequences, including penalties for unpaid taxes and frozen assets. It can also delay inheritance for beneficiaries, increase the risk of family disputes, and ultimately result in court intervention to settle the estate. Promptly reporting and administering the estate ensures the deceased’s wishes are respected and helps avoid unnecessary complications.

You can nominate a person older than 18 years of age or a professional executor such as Momentum Trust. The nomination of executor in terms of your Will is a very important decision and can have a huge impact on the finalisation of your estate. You should make sure that the person or entity is best qualified and has the required experience in dealing with deceased estates and if not, this can have dire consequences in the finalisation of the estate, as well as not attaining the goals that you may have had in mind when drafting your Will. A family member that has never administered an estate should not be burdened with the responsibility as it will not only cause delays but could possibly lead to financial loss.

The cost to settle a deceased estate in South Africa varies based on the estate's value and complexity. You can use our estate duty calculator to calculate the unavoidable costs payable at death.

A deceased estates can be tracked online through the Master’s Office’s ICMS Web Portalopen_in_new. You can also contact the appointed executor for updates.