Dear Minister, it takes a lot longer that 2 ears for probate to be completed. I can take up to 2 years just to get a grant of probate from the Supreme Court!

Something is very wrong here or the imformation is very incorrect in the story.

Is it really death duty, which is astronomical, being talked about here? Far too often is property rich, their house, and cash poor. They have minimal cash producing investments, needing all reserve cash during their working lives to pay the mortgage.

Examples are many where the surviving spouse has to sell the home to pay the death duty, then gets thrown out into the rental market instead of being able to stay in that home until passing also.

This is a house that has paid to Government all kinds of import duty for the materials in it’s construction, paid payroll tax to the workers who built it, paid payroll tax on every worker who has done maintenance and repairs, paid landtax over the years, paid payroll tax for the insurance people who insured it, paid fuel tax to BELCO, paid Government time after time after time taxes forvery little tangible in return, then gets hammered one last time after the owner dies.

This is FAIRNESS in action.

Best advice for any senior couple with a property is to convey the property NOW. Split the ownership between your heirs and yourselves. Government gets its grubby paws on money to do it but it is much less than death taxes on the property.

Their is a catch. Can the heirs, as joint owners, be trusted to not want to cash in on what now becomes partly theirs? Could be a huge risk.