Trusts Archives - Ashersons Attorneys | Attorneys in Cape Town

28 Jul 2026

Can Family Conflict Kibosh a Trust?

“The palest ink is better than the best memory.” (Chinese proverb) A founder dies and the family disagrees about what should happen to the assets. Then some beneficiaries produce emails proving they know what he wanted to happen. Surely the court can step in and wind up the trust? Not so fast. A recent Supreme Court of Appeal decision shows that a founder’s later wishes do not, without a formal amendment, override the terms of the trust deed. In black and white The trust at the centre of the dispute had been created decades earlier as a discretionary trust, holding…

Your Dormant Trust Is Not Invisible to SARS

“Things do not go away. They go somewhere.” (Annie Dillard) Many trustees assume that a dormant trust can be safely forgotten. No income, no assets, no transactions … No problem. SARS has made it clear that this assumption may be an expensive one. In recent months, SARS has intensified its focus on trust compliance, targeting trusts that have failed to submit annual income tax returns. What many trustees may not realise is that inactivity does not remove a trust’s tax obligations. A trust that has been sitting dormant for years is still required to submit annual income tax returns. Failure…

Contracting with Trusts – Is a Majority Resolution Valid?

“Externally, trustees cannot disagree. In the external sphere the Trust functions by virtue of its resolutions, which have to be supported by the full complement of the Trust body.” (Extract from judgment below) A recent Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment provides yet another reminder to tread carefully when contracting with trusts. Your agreements with a trust will be invalid and unenforceable if the trustees acting for the trust weren’t properly authorised to bind the trust. But must trustee resolutions always be taken unanimously by all of the appointed trustees to be valid, or will a majority decision ever suffice?…