My half-brother applied for an authority letter to claim our late father’s inheritance but excluded my sister and I. How can we be included to get our share?

The long answer

If your father had made a will, he would have given the name of the person he wanted to have the letter of authority. If he didn’t make a will nominating a person, he is said to have died intestate, and all the heirs, which include you and your sister, would usually nominate the person they wanted to receive the letter of authority. The Master of the High Court would consider whether the person nominated by the heirs was suitable. If the person was considered suitable, the Master would issue the letter to that person. 

It is possible for more than one person to be appointed to have the letter of authority, but generally the heirs nominate one person. The person nominated would work under the supervision of the Master.

If your father did not make a will saying who should get what, the deceased estate would be distributed according to the Intestate Succession Act. 

This is how it works:

If there is a surviving spouse or spouses, they would inherit the greater of R250,000 per spouse (a child’s share) and the children would inherit the balance of the estate. You work out a child’s share like this: the intestate estate is divided by the number of surviving children of the deceased, and deceased children who have left children, plus the number of surviving spouses. 

But if there are no surviving spouses, only four surviving children and no descendants of deceased children, the deceased estate of your father would be divided equally between the four of you. 

The person with the letter of authority does not have any greater rights to inherit. The job of the person with the letter of authority is to see that all debts are paid and that all the rightful heirs inherit. As you and your sister, together with your two half-siblings, are the rightful heirs, you would all inherit an equal share of the estate.

If you are worried that you may not receive your rightful share, you could approach the Master and say that you and your sister, as heirs, were not given a chance to nominate a person to have the letter of authority. You could perhaps ask the Master to call a meeting with all four of you to discuss how to proceed in a cooperative way. 

If the Master does not agree to such a meeting, as the letter of authority has already been issued, and the Master has the final say, you could ask them to note your concerns and to keep an eye on how the estate is wound up, so that you do not lose what you should inherit. The Master is required to see that the estate is lawfully distributed.

Wishing you the best,
Athalie