Receiving your South African inheritance

When you become the beneficiary of a deceased estate in South Africa, the will's executor will contact you to arrange for the transfer of your inheritance to you.

He or she will ask you a series of questions about when you left South Africa, your status in terms of foreign exchange control and the administration of deceased estates act.

Transferring your South African inheritance overseas

If you live overseas and are the beneficiary of an inheritance or a trust from within South Africa, we know it can be difficult and frustrating to send those funds out of South Africa. South African foreign exchange regulations are complex and moving money out of the country requires expert knowledge and understanding. As fully regulated legal, financial and tax experts in South Africa, we can make sure you can get access to your bequests no matter where you are in the world.

We work with many accounting and law firms, deceased estate practitioners, administrators and executors, as well as trust companies assisting with the transfer of inheritances and trust distributions to overseas beneficiaries. We have been supporters of the FISA (Fiduciary Institute of South Africa) for several years now and many FISA members use our services to assist with transfers to overseas beneficiaries.

With us, you can rest assured that you’ll never be tripped up by red tape when transferring money from South Africa. We’ll also always ensure that we get you great exchange rates and exceptional service on every transfer.

Inheriting money from overseas as a South African expat

If you are living overseas and you receive an inheritance from a South African estate, you will fall into one of the three categories below.

1. South African resident temporarily abroad

   This means that you have not completed formal financial emigration (before 1 March 2021) and are considered a resident “temporarily abroad” by SARB. You are subject to the same exchange control and financial regulations as people living in South Africa.

   If this is your situation, you can transfer your funds using your R1 million discretionary allowance (SDA) or your R10 million foreign investment allowance (FIA). The FIA requires an AIT (tax clearance) and your green barcoded South African ID book or ID card. We can obtain your tax clearance certificate for you, as well as transfer your foreign investment allowance at the best possible exchange rate and lowest fee.

   Financial emigration is no longer an option for South Africans living overseas as this was removed from exchange control on 1 March 2021. For South Africans inheriting, financial immigration has been replaced by a requirement to demonstrate being a non-tax-resident as well as a resident in another country. At Sable, we are experienced in the complexities of the scenarios our clients face and we will find a solution to ensure you receive your inheritance as quickly as possible.




2. You have financially emigrated from South Africa (pre-March 2021) and are a non-resident of South Africa

   The inheritance funds can be transferred to you, provided that you have proof or confirmation of your financial emigration. This involves providing the South African Reserve Bank with your reference number (also called the ECA number) which you would have received when you originally emigrated from the bank at which the emigration was done. We can assist you should you wish to verify your financial emigration status.




3. You were never a South African citizen

   This is a straightforward process of providing evidence of your non-residence status and transferring your funds overseas. You will then be able to send any South African inheritance out of the country with relative ease.