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In this guide
By Onah Attorneys Inc • Updated July 2026 • Legal information, not a substitute for advice on your specific matter.
The will reads nothing like what Mom always said. The caregiver inherits everything. The signature looks wrong. South African law lets you challenge a will — but only on defined grounds, with evidence, on a clock that runs while the executor administers. Here is what actually invalidates wills, and what merely disappoints families.
Ground 1: Formalities
The Wills Act’s execution rules are strict: signed at the end by the testator, two competent witnesses present at the same time, every page signed where required. Beneficiary-witnesses forfeit their inheritance (s4A) — the DIY will witnessed by the heirs is the classic self-destructing document. Formalities challenges are the most objective: the document either complies or needs the court’s s2(3) rescue (proving the deceased intended it as a will despite defects).
Ground 2: Capacity
The testator must, AT SIGNING, understand the nature of the act, their assets, and the claims upon them. Dementia diagnoses don’t automatically invalidate — lucid intervals count; the question is capacity at the moment of execution. Evidence: medical records around the date, the drafting attorney’s file notes, witnesses to the signing. Late-life wills executed in hospital weeks before death, drafted by a beneficiary’s attorney, invite exactly this scrutiny.
Ground 3: Undue influence and fraud
Influence becomes UNDUE when it substitutes the influencer’s will for the testator’s — isolation from family, dependency exploited, the new ‘advisor’ who arranged everything and inherits most. Forgery (handwriting experts) and fraud (misrepresenting what was signed) sit alongside. These cases are circumstantial: the pattern (isolation + control + radical change + benefit) is the proof; single suspicious facts rarely suffice.
The process
Urgent first steps: written objection to the Master, demand the original will and the drafting file, and interdict distribution if the executor is moving. Then a High Court action to set the will aside — reverting to the prior will or intestacy. Expect medical and handwriting experts, discovery of the attorney’s file, and 1–3 years. Settlements (redistribution agreements among all affected) resolve many mid-fight — often wisely.
What is NOT a ground — and the claims that exist instead
‘It’s unfair’ invalidates nothing: freedom of testation lets parents disinherit children. But separate claims survive a VALID will: a surviving spouse’s maintenance claim, minor (and dependent adult) children’s maintenance against the estate, accrual/community claims by the matrimonial regime, and s2C/s4A oddities. Many ‘contest the will’ consultations end as strong maintenance claims instead — faster, cheaper, likelier.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to contest?
No fixed statutory bar, but act before distribution — undoing paid-out estates is far harder. Object to the Master and interdict early; delay itself damages prospects.
Who pays the legal costs?
Often the estate where the challenge was reasonable (the testator’s conduct caused the doubt); losers of opportunistic challenges pay personally. Costs exposure is a real strategic factor — get a prospects opinion first.
The new will leaves everything to the caregiver — suspicious enough?
It’s a red-flag pattern courts know well, but you still need the evidence framework: capacity records, isolation timeline, who arranged the drafting. Start gathering before positions harden.
Can we just settle among ourselves?
Yes — all affected beneficiaries (of age) can sign a redistribution agreement and end the fight. Courts and the Master accept them; families recommend them in hindsight.
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