Most people don’t put off drafting or updating a will because they don’t care about what happens to the people they love. Life simply gets in the way, and because we hope we won’t need a will for many years, it’s easy to sign it, put it somewhere safe and forget about it. However, life changes. Families grow, relationships evolve, and financial circumstances shift. A will that once reflected our wishes may no longer do so. That’s why a will must be revisited as life changes, so it continues to cater for the people who matter most to us.
What Happens if You Die Without a Valid Will?
When someone dies without a valid will, their estate is distributed according to the rules of intestate succession. This is a fixed legal formula that determines who inherits, and how much, regardless of what the deceased may actually have wanted.
In practical terms, this can sometimes lead to outcomes that don’t reflect what a person may have intended for the people closest to them. A long-term partner who was never legally married, for example, may not automatically inherit despite having shared many years, responsibilities and financial commitments with the deceased. Similarly, stepchildren who were never formally adopted may not be recognised as beneficiaries under the law. In some cases, relatives may inherit based on their legal relationship even when the deceased had a closer relationship with a life partner, chosen family, and friends. These situations highlight how important it is to ensure that your estate plan reflects the people who truly matter to you, rather than relying solely on legal definitions of family.
Where an estate is intestate and there is no nominated executor, the Master of the High Court will need to appoint one. This can add time to the administration process which may be particularly difficult for a family that is already under emotional strain. Bank accounts can be frozen, dependants may struggle to access funds for immediate living expenses, and the process of finalising the estate can stretch on for months or even for years, without the clarity a valid will would have provided.
An Outdated Will Is Almost as Risky as No Will at All
It’s a common misconception that once a will is signed, the job is done. In reality, an outdated will can create many of the same problems as having no will at all.
Life changes such as marriage, divorce, remarriage, the birth of children, the death of a named beneficiary, or a significant shift in financial circumstances can all render an existing will misaligned with an individual’s actual wishes. In South Africa, marriage does not automatically revoke a prior will, and divorce only removes a former spouse as a beneficiary under specific conditions. Left unreviewed, a will can end up directing assets to an ex-spouse, omitting children from a second marriage, or failing to account for assets or dependants that didn’t exist when it was drafted.
This is why a will should not be treated as a once-off exercise but rather reviewed at every significant milestone, not simply signed and stored away.
Beneficiary Nominations Need the Same Attention
A will is only one part of a coordinated estate plan. Beneficiary nominations on retirement funds, life policies, and investment products often fall outside the will entirely, governed instead by their own nomination forms. If these aren’t reviewed alongside the will, it’s entirely possible for a will to reflect an individual’s current wishes while a decades-old nomination contradicts it, directing a significant portion of an estate to someone the person no longer intended to benefit.
Guardianship and Family Disputes
For parents of minor children, a will is also where guardianship wishes should be clearly documented. Without this, the courts must decide who will raise a child if both parents die, a decision family members may not always agree on. Clearly stated wishes remove ambiguity at an already devastating time.
More broadly, unclear or outdated estate planning is one of the most common sources of family conflict after a death. Disputes over who was meant to inherit what can fracture family relationships permanently, often over matters that a clear, current will could have settled without question.
The Financial Adviser’s Role
This is where financial advisers play a critical role – not simply at the point of drafting a will, but as an ongoing part of financial planning. A good financial adviser will prompt clients to revisit their estate plan at key life stages, check that beneficiary nominations align with the will, and flag gaps before they become costly, painful problems for the people left behind.
A will is not a document to write once and file away. It’s a living reflection of your life, your relationships and your responsibilities – one that deserves the same ongoing attention as the rest of your financial plan.
Written by Bertie Nel, Head of Financial Planning and Advice, Momentum.