What should I do if my late parent's attorney lost their will and title deed, and we can't get hold of them?

The long answer

Perhaps the first thing to do is to check whether the title deed was indeed transferred by this attorney and if so, to get a copy of it. After the Registrar of Deeds signs the transfer, the Deeds Office closest to you keeps a copy. 

You need to go in person to the Deeds Office and have the following information with you: 

• The full names and/or identity number of the owner of the property, or at least their date of birth. 

• The correct erf number and township or farm name and number, not the street.

To obtain a copy of a deed or document from a deeds registry, the westerncape.gov website gives the following advice: 

• Go to any deeds office (deeds registries may not give out information acting on a letter or a telephone call). 

• Go to the information desk, where an official will help you complete a prescribed form and explain the procedure.

• Request a data typist to search for the property, pay the required fee at the cashier's office and take the receipt back to the official at the information desk. 

• The receipt number will be allocated to your copy of the title. 

Ooba Homeloans gives the following fee increases at the Deeds Offices from April 2024: 

• An increase of between 4.4% and 6.3% in the cost to register a transfer. 

• An increase of 6.25% to register a bond. 

• The price to replace a misplaced, lost or destroyed Title Deed is increased to R586. 

• The cost to request copies of Title Deeds rises to R159. 

Online searches for title deeds are also possible, via DeedsWeb from the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. DeedsWeb can also show you the registered owner of a property and the address. 

In terms of getting a copy of your father’s will, Legal Advice says in this article, “The first place to start when searching for a will in South Africa is the website of the Master of the High Court in the jurisdiction where the deceased lived. The Master of the High Court is responsible for maintaining records of wills and other legal documents, and their website may have information on how to access wills on file.” 

As a death must be reported within 14 days to the Master in the area where the deceased was living, the attorney should have reported it with your father’s will, death certificate, ID and various other documents. Your father's will should be in the vault in the Master’s Office. There are Master’s Offices in all the magistrate’s courts. 

In terms of getting the municipal accounts in your name: you would need to check with the Deeds Office whether the title deed was indeed transferred to you or if it is still in your father’s name. If it was not transferred to you, you would need to get a conveyancing attorney to transfer it. 

Property @ Bowring gives the following steps for transferring municipal accounts to your name:

• Once the property is registered at the Deeds Office into the name of the Purchaser, the transferring attorneys send a letter to the Municipality stating that registration has occurred. 

• Within 10 (ten) weeks of registration of the property into the name of the Purchaser, the Deeds Office sends the information via direct link to the Municipality so that they may update their systems. 

• This is where the problem arises as more often than not this is not done by the Municipality. Therefore, the Seller needs to close his/her rates account and the Purchaser is required to open a new rates account with the Municipality. 

• Importantly, the Seller will be unable to close his/her rates account if the purchaser has not opened his/her own rates account. This is to protect the Municipality so that there is always an account linked to a property. 

• Therefore, the Purchaser needs to attend the offices of the Municipality and open a new account in his/her name. 

The Purchaser must have the following documents at his/her disposal in order to open an account: 

• A letter from the Transferring Attorney stating that the Seller’s property has been transferred into the name of the Purchaser; and 

• The Purchaser’s Identity Document. 

• A Purchaser will know when his/her own account has been opened when a new account number is issued to him/her. 

Finally, it sounds from your email that the attorney has not served you well and the fact that you cannot get hold of him now is not a good sign. 

You may want to consider filing a complaint against him with the Legal Practice Council (LPC). Negligence is one of the grounds on which members of the public can lay a complaint with the LPC. 

Legal Advice says, “Negligence occurs when an attorney fails to provide competent and diligent representation, leading to negative consequences for the client.” 

They give the following examples of negligence: missing crucial deadlines, failing to file necessary documents, or providing incorrect legal advice that results in a client’s case being dismissed. 

They say, “The Legal Practice Act, Section 34(1), mandates that attorneys must act in the best interests of their clients with due care, skill, and diligence. Failure to do so can lead to disciplinary actions.” 

You would need to: 

• Prepare a detailed written complaint 

• Submit it to the LPC’s regional office in your province 

• Wait for confirmation from the LPC and further instructions 

• LPC investigates and interviews witnesses etc 

• LPC informs you of the outcome, which can be that the complaint is dismissed, or mediation between you and the attorney, or that the attorney will be disciplined, which could include fines, suspension or disbarment. 

These are the Legal Practice Council contact details: 

Email: info@lpc.org.za 

Tel: +27 (0) 10 001 8500m (national office)

Wishing you the best,
Athalie