General System User Notice

  1. INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETION AND SIGNATURE OF YOUR Digital Will

    It is very important that you complete and sign your Digital Will properly and correctly otherwise it can be contested and set aside by the courts.

    1. After your Digital Will has been emailed to you with all the completed information already included in it (because you used Digital Will properly), you need to:
      1. Print out two copies of Your Last Will and Testament.
      2. Sign each page of Your Will in full at the bottom of the page (where it says Signed by: Testator/Testatrix______________).

        Get two witnesses to sign each page of your Will in full at the bottom of the page (where it says Witness 1 and Witness 2). IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THE PEOPLE WHO SIGN AS YOUR WITNESSES ARE NOT INHERITING (GETTING ANY MONEY OR ASSETS) A GUARDIAN, AN EXECUTOR OR A TRUSTEE IN YOUR WILL. IF THEY ARE, AND THEY SIGN THEY WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO INHERIT OR UNDERTAKE THEIR MANDATED FUNCTIONS.

      3. You must sign and date the last page of your Will in the place that says, "Testator/Testatrix signature".
      4. Your two witnesses must complete the information on the last page of your Will and sign in the place that says "Sign".
      5. You must ensure that you sign the Will at the same place and time as the Witnesses, witness your Will.
      6. Should you not be able to sign your Will due to disability or incapacitation please contact Cliqtech at support@smartwill.co.za for assistance.
    2. UPDATING YOUR Digital Will
      1. You may access your Digital Will on the Digital Will system at any time to update your Last Will and Testament. You undertake to always ensure your Digital Will is properly signed and witnessed as per section 1.1 above.
      2. You will be reminded electronically to update your Digital Will on a yearly basis.
      3. You undertake to update your personal contact details including but not limited to email addresses, postal addresses and cell phone numbers on a regular basis to ensure that at all times we can contact you and your family.
  2. FEES
    1. As a User of the Digital Will System, additional optional services and discounts are made available through our partner Cliqtech. These additional services are optional and carry a fee that is paid to Cliqtech.
    2. Should the User elect to cancel their additional service, the cancellation will relate to the continuation of the service with ongoing annual payments canceled. The remainder of the User’s fee paid will be refunded pro-rata.

      Should there be any costs already incurred by Cliqtech due to the purchase of the additional service, these costs will be deducted from the pro-rata refund.

    3. SMARTSTORAGE.
      1. SmartStorage makes it easy and affordable to securely store your new or updated will. We collect your will via courier from anywhere in the country and securely transport it to our offices where it gets checked for any errors, scanned and barcoded before being securely stored in a secured fireproof facility.
      2. Cliqtech will facilitate the collection of your Digital Will should the User have elected to purchase the SmartStorage service. The SmartStorage service is payable annually and allows for the collection of the new or updated will once a year at or after the date of annual renewal of the service. Storage of the will is facilitated by Estate Plan (www.estateplan.co.za) as the Executors.
      3. Should the User decline to use the SmartStorage Service or fail/refuse to deliver/courier the first Digital Will or fail/fail to deliver/courier an original copy of the further/later amended Digital Will to our offices, the User undertakes to inform his/her next of kin as to where the original Digital Will is so that Estate Plan can proceed with the winding up of the User’s estate upon death.
    4. SMARTEXECUTOR.
      1. SmartExecutor is a service which allows for a discount in executor fees or depending on the size of the estate, covering the executor fees in full.
      2. As a User of the Digital Will System, we have partnered with Cliqtech (cliqtech.co.za) to offer discounts to you on the winding up of your estate. The discounts will depend upon the total value of the Estate and provided that you have opted for the SmartExecutor service and the annual fee has been paid and up to date for the SmartExecutor service. You may request a copy of the latest Schedule of Fees directly from Cliqtech at support@smartwill.co.za who undertakes to make its Schedule of Fees available to the User electronically on an annual basis at the same time that you are requested to update your summary of your Estate (Snapshot) and your Digital Will.
    5. SMARTCHECK.
      1. The SmartCheck service runs a check on the first day of the month in real-time against the South African Department of Home Affairs to determine the User’s death status and proactively informs the User’s dependents of the existence of the will held in safekeeping with Estate Plan for 12 consecutive months.
      2. The Digital Will is reliant on third parties to provide the SmartCheck service. As a result, Cliqtech cannot guarantee the service’s accuracy and availability. The SmartCheck service is renewable annually.
  3. USE OF AND RENEWAL/UPDATE OF THE SERVICES
    1. The Services are those services as defined in clauses 2.3 to 2.5 above.
    2. In order to utilise the Services as defined, the User is required to:
      1. Update on the System annually by accessing the Digital Will website and updating your Snapshot.
      2. Ensure that at all stages the email address and contact details of the User remain correct and updated and the User has provided Digital Will with notice of any changes during the course of each annual period;
      3. In order to assist the User to utilise the Services, Digital Will:
        1. Notify the User of the necessity to update their Snapshot on the System via email.
        2. Provide the User with a copy of the User’s most recent Snapshot for quick confirmation of details or in order to make the necessary updates and amendments on the System.
  4. DISCLAIMERS
    1. Should the Executor ascertain that the estate of the User as stipulated in the User’s Digital Will includes reference to assets that have not been finally transferred into the name of the User prior to your death e.g. a property that was left to you either intestate or testate by a parent, then Estate Plan reserves the right to charge the full Executor’s fee permissible in terms of the laws of the Republic of South Africa for the winding up of the earlier estate prior to commencing on the finalisation of your Estate.
    2. In terms of the Administration of Estates Act of 1965, should the Estate have a Total Asset Value of less than or equal to R250 000.00 it is deemed to be a Section 18(3) Estate. To have your Estate finalised for free your Snapshot of your Estate must have been updated in the last 12 months preceding your death. You need to have opted for the SmartExecutor service and the annual fee must be paid and up to date for the SmartExecutor service. The free service will include:
      1. Reporting the deceased estate to the Master of the High Court and obtaining a Letter of Authority.
      2. Opening of an Estate late bank account, if necessary.
      3. Closing of all the deceased's bank accounts
      4. Distributing any cash in the Estate late bank account to heirs.
    3. Failing this annual update and not having opted for the SmartExecutor service, Estate Plan will provide a quotation to your beneficiaries and/or family members to wind up the Section 18(3) estate on behalf of your beneficiaries. Should the quotation not be accepted by your beneficiaries/Executor, Estate Plan reserves the right to renounce its appointment as the executor and to defer to the nominated alternative executor as the User’s Executor.
    4. Should your Snapshot be up to date and you have opted for the SmartExecutor service Estate Plan will act as the Executor at no charge to the User’s Estate to provide the Service. This will however not include the following:
      1. Estates that are insolvent.
      2. Estates where there are civil disputes or court actions of any nature are pending or ongoing as at the time of death of the User, including but not limited to disputes between potential beneficiaries regarding the validity of the will or which version of the will is valid, who the correct beneficiaries are and legal disputes involving fixed property.
      3. Finalising outstanding income tax returns.
      4. Transfer cost for the transfer of any movable or immovable property in the Estate.
      5. The provision of any other or further service not described in Paragraph 2.2 above, subject to the sole discretion of the Provider.

Updated: 21/06/2022