A will is so much more than your final piece of paperwork; it is a roadmap for the people you love most. A way to spare them from unnecessary administrative and legal burdens after you pass away. Unfortunately, millions of South Africans don’t have wills – so many, in fact, that it is bordering on a national crisis. I believe we must reframe the will. Not only is it a piece of admin that many of us prefer not to think about. It is actually an act of love and a powerful instrument for building generational wealth.
Our 2025 Sanlam Legacy Wills Survey reveals a sobering reality – 66% of South Africans lack a will, a figure that has risen by 5% from 2024 to 2025. That’s millions of households left vulnerable to avoidable delays, conflict, and costs. And there’s an even wider impact: When deceased estates can’t be wrapped up, homes can’t be transferred, and funds cannot be accessed. In simple terms, money that should be paying for school fees, settling debts and taxes, or funding a start-up business ends up stuck in admin limbo. It becomes “dead capital” – assets that have no economic value because they cannot be leveraged or exchanged.
This paralysis also means property and savings are not efficiently passed down from one generation to the next. This flow of capital is critical for a healthy economy. But the problem runs deeper. Even when assets are eventually transferred, a lack of planning means inherited wealth is often immediately spent rather than reinvested into productive assets. This consumes capital that could have been used to build financial resilience.
A nation where the majority cannot efficiently protect and pass on what they have is a nation that cannot build lasting prosperity. The solution starts with helping our clients to see wills not as morbid documents, but as empowering acts of love and cornerstones of life plans – roadmaps to brighter futures.
The toll of a will-less nation on families
When someone dies, their bank accounts are frozen. While this happens whether there is a will or not, the difference in outcome for the family is profound. With a will, an executor is already named, and the process to unfreeze accounts and distribute assets can begin relatively quickly. Without a will, the family must navigate a slow, bureaucratic process to have an executor appointed, often leaving them without access to money for groceries, school fees, or healthcare for months.
Consider this real-life scenario. A husband, who was the sole provider for his wife who has a disability, passes away without a will. The money she desperately needs for her own care and daily expenses sits locked in his frozen bank accounts. It remains inaccessible until the courts appoint an executor and issue a Letter of Executorship, the official document required to manage a deceased estate. Obtaining one can take months.
This legal vacuum invites conflict. The law of intestate succession dictates who inherits. It is a legal formula that doesn’t account for complex modern families, dependants who aren’t blood relatives, or the deceased’s specific last wishes. The emotional toll can be immense, including the risk of family feuds that can last generations.
Reframing the will as a life planning tool
The solution requires a collective effort from the financial sector, policymakers, and society, anchored in a new understanding of wills:
First, demystify the process. The 2025 Sanlam Legacy Wills Survey shows that perceived cost and complexity are major barriers to will-drafting for South Africans. Our financial services industry must provide simple, low-cost, and easily accessible will-drafting services. We need to shift the perception of a financial adviser from someone you see when you are old, to a financial coach who walks with you throughout your life.
Second, plan for preservation. A properly drafted will is more than a list of beneficiaries. It can include crucial stipulations, such as appointing a capable [KA1] executor or creating a trust to ensure an inheritance is preserved for a child’s education and future, rather than being consumed immediately. This ensures that transferred wealth becomes a foundation for long-term security.
Third, policymakers must promote education. Financial literacy, including the basics of estate planning, should be part of the school curriculum. By equipping young people with this knowledge, we can help them turn potential grief into proactive planning, especially in households where older generations did not have a will.
Lastly, use the power of community. Platforms like churches, stokvels, and trade unions are trusted channels for this vital information. We must harness the power of sharing stories. The 2025 Sanlam Legacy Wills Survey found the number one catalyst for drafting a will is experiencing the death of a loved one. We have all seen the chaos that ensues when someone dies without a will. So, we need to be more open about these experiences to motivate others to act.
Closing South Africa’s wills gap can build a more resilient, stable, and prosperous nation. However, we must shift our collective mindset from one of short-term survival to creating long-term legacies. That means viewing wills as the ultimate acts of love for our families, communities, and country.