Bequeathing property in your Will - how it can go wrong
IolProperty - South Africa
If you leave fixed property to someone in your Will you may be creating unnecessary complications since problems dealing with fixed properties can easily arise.
First one should consider how one is married since this influences one's capacity to distribute assets after death says David Knott of Private Client Trust.
"If you are married in community of property, you only own one half of all assets registered both in your name and that of your spouse - notwithstanding how the assets may be registered and when the assets were acquired. Your spouse therefore still remains a one half share owner of any fixed property you may have bequeathed to a third party, a child or children for example. To complicate further, say you have bequeathed your half share to your minor children and the property is bonded, if there is insufficient monies to discharge the bond, the property will probably end up having to be sold as very few financial institutions if any, will agree to lend to minors."
(Any property bequeathed in terms of your Will must devolve upon the beneficiary free of any mortgage bond and one should ensure that there is either bond liability insurance cover or assets held in your estate which may be easily realised to discharge this liability.)
IolProperty
Residential building statistics
Absa - South Africa
Planning phase of residential building activity showing further growth, with contraction in construction phase slowing down
Year-on-year growth in the planning phase of residential of building activity in the South African market for new housing continued along seasonal trends in August 2014, as reflected by the number of building plans approved by local government authorities. The construction phase of residential building activity, i.e. the volume of housing units reported as completed, continued to contract in August on a year-on-year basis, but the pace of contraction was significantly lower and on a sharply improving trend since May this year. These trends in private sector-financed residential building activity are from data published by Statistics South Africa.
The number of new housing units for which building plans were approved by local government institutions increased further in August this year, by 8,4% year-on-year (y/y) to a cumulative total of 38 516 units in the first eight months of the year. This resulted in growth of 13,5% y/y in the period January to August. The segments of smaller-sized houses (<80m²) housing and higher-density flats and townhouses were the main contributors to the improved level of plans approved up to August.
Building stats Aug 2014
Law Society invests £5m+ in online conveyancing project
Legal Futures - UK
The Law Society has invested over £5m in a new online conveyancing system, to be launched next spring, which aims to revolutionise the home-buying process. The society has the majority stake in a joint venture with global technology giant Mastek, which will operate the system through the brand name ‘Veyo’.
In its first phase, the system will allow professionals to better communicate with each other, clients and other parties, satisfy due diligence obligations more quickly and facilitate the conveyance of residential property through established protocols.
Legal Futures
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