I spoke to Emma Greyvenstein the other day. Emma is a friend of Charles Scott, one of our club’s long-standing members.

Charles had asked me to meet with Emma to hear her story. I met with her at a coffee shop in Bellville, and from the moment I met her, I saw suffering.

This is Emma’s story, in her own words, but BEWARE, this is not for sensitive readers!

“My husband Johan, a senior bank manager, and I lived on a golf estate in Stellenbosch. I stopped working 40 years ago when our first child was born. For me, staying home and raising our children was a big blessing. As the kids started leaving the house after studying, I never considered returning to work. I lived a full life, serving on the board of a well-known charity organisation.

Three years ago, my seemingly idyllic life ended abruptly when my loving, healthy, wealthy, successful husband died suddenly of a severe heart attack. It was one year before he would’ve retired.

My children, living in Australia, came as soon as they could. Fortunately, my friends at the charity organisation supported me and helped me with the funeral arrangements.

The funeral house gave an invoice for the funeral cost. I asked Heidi, my husband’s personal assistant at the bank, to arrange payment, and that was when the second shock after Tom’s sudden death hit me!

Heidi informed me that all our bank accounts, with more than a million rand in them, were frozen!

Not just Johan’s accounts but also mine, as we were married in community of property.

So what now? My children are on their way to South Africa for a funeral which I suddenly cannot afford!

I have never felt so sad, lonesome and hopeless. Not even so much as a credit card worked! Everything was frozen. Heidi suggested that I speak to Mr Harris, my husband’s Financial Advisor at the bank’s Insurance Department.

Mr Harris assured me that although my husband’s affairs are “fortunately” 100% in order, I should speak to Mr Jan van Wyk at the bank’s Executors Department.

Jan confirmed that he’d handle my husband’s deceased’s estate personally and that everything was in order. I asked him about the funeral cost and my living expenses since the bank accounts are frozen. He said, unfortunately, it’s a legal requirement that all the assets be frozen until the estate is settled. I then asked if I could borrow money against the equity in the house. He said no, as the house is part of the frozen estate.

I returned to Mr Harris and asked about my husband’s life insurance and if I could have some of that money for the funeral. He informed me that “fortunately”, my husband had excellent life insurance that had already paid over R5 million to my husband’s estate.

I went back to Jan and asked about the insurance money. He said I’m fortunate that the insurance paid out so fast because it will help him to settle my husband’s estate more quickly, but no, he can’t give me some of the insurance money for the funeral as it is in the frozen estate and my husband’s creditors have the first right to it.

It is now 30 months later, the estate is still not settled. In the meantime, I lost everything!

Unfortunately, the R5 million life insurance was insufficient to settle the debt.

Johan’s debt was higher than I thought. The house was sold on auction for about 50% of its value, which was still not enough to settle the outstanding bond amount – so they sold the furniture too.

On my last enquiry six months ago, Jan confirmed that the estate would be finally settled in a month or two. He said that the estate is “fortunately” not insolvent and, therefore, I should get about R20,000 out.

That was another big shock! Only R20,000?
After all, my husband was a multi-millionaire!
The equity on our house alone was more than R5 million! And what happened to his stock portfolio?

Anyways, the “month or two” passed without anything being settled. I’m not even asking for reports anymore. What’s the use?

A year after my husband’s death, my children paid for an attorney to advise me. In the only meeting I had with him, he said that the insurance companies and banks know exactly what they’re doing. Their documentation and administration are 100% correct and legal. To try and prosecute them will be a complete waste of money. Money that I don’t have anyway. He said if I take action against them, they’ll probably get nasty and I could completely lose my right to my husband’s pension.

The so-called pension is just a fraction of what I expected since my husband worked many years for the bank, but it’s better than nothing, and I cannot afford to lose that too!

Now, 30 months after my clever, successful husband died, I live in a small furnished flat in Kuils River. Fortunately, I’m in the process of moving to Australia to live with my children. Fortunately, they have good jobs and have been helping me financially since my husband passed.

In case you wondered I had to postpone the funeral for a few days. My children paid for it.

By the way, mine and the bank & insurance company’s idea of the word “fortunately” couldn’t be more different!

When Charles told me about the Wealth Mastery System, which he has been using for the last 20 years, I was shocked that my clever husband did not know about it!”

Thank you for sharing your story with us, Emma!

Besides the creditors of any deceased estate in South Africa, you’ll also find the following death costs that need settling when someone passes away:

• Estate Duty of 25% to SARS on the estate’s nett value
• Capital Gains Tax of 18% to SARS
• Executor Fees of 4% of the estate’s gross value to the bank or insurance company
• Auctioneer Commission of 10%
• Transfer duty of 13% on luxury houses
• Auction loss of 50%

It all adds up to 120%!

NOW YOU UNDERSTAND WHY ABOUT ALL DECEASED ESTATES ARE INSOLVENT!

The WEALTH MASTERY SYSTEM is the only legal way to avoid all the taxes and costs to settle an estate and therefore avoid Emma’s situation. It’s a system that the rich and royals have been using for centuries!

Take control of YOUR FUTURE by taking control of YOU AND YOUR PARTNER’S JOINT FUTURE!

“Fortunately”, the Wealth Masters Club presents full-day Master Classes where the dangers and solutions are discussed in detail. Prevention is better than cure …

BOOK YOUR SEAT NOW … for yourself AND your partner!

www.WealthMastersClub.com

(Names in this article have changed to protect the parties involved)