Sequestration

Sequestration is a voluntary surrender of an estate when his or her’s liabilities exceeds his or her’s assets.

1. Various Court Orders stipulate that a Consumer that applies for sequestration must have the value of 21c to the Rand. What this means is for every Creditor that you owe R1.00 you must have a payment of 21c.
2. For example, if you have R100,000,00 debt you must repay R21,000,00 (excl legal fees)
3. When we receive your application, we will request that you fill in a form that state all your assets. This form is provided to a valuator, who will contact you in order to provide us with a valuation of your assets.
4. This valuation will form part of our application to Court in order to provide evidence to the court that you do indeed qualify for sequestration.

1. First, we need to look at the situation where you owe immovable property – in other words, a house. If the House is under a bond, the bondholder (the bank) is a secured creditor due to the registration of the bond over the property and will receive his payment first out of your insolvent estate by the Trustee. As soon as a Trustee is appointed, they will arrange that the property is auctioned.
2. If the Immovable property is not secured by a bond, and you had previously tried to sell the property, but could not find a purchaser and you are sure that if your property is sold, you will not need to apply for sequestration. You need to discuss this option with us, as we will draw you a market value research and on that ground provide you with an option.
3. What will happen to your moveable assets? After we have received the valuation of the evaluator and you qualify for sequestration, we will provide you with a draft agreement that you need to sign. The agreement will then be provided to a trustee that is appointed to your estate. Most of the Trustees will enter into an agreement that you can repurchase your assets out of the estate. The time frame depends on the Trustee and in most circumstances and depending on the amount, the time frame is 18 months. Your assets then will not get attached if the trustee consents to the purchase agreement and as long as you make your diligent payments. If you do not make your payment as per the agreement, the Trustee will move forward with an attachment on your moveable assets. During our consultation Writer will be able to explain this in more detail.
4. Should you have a vehicle under a lease agreement, the lease agreement will state that the financial institution will remain the owner of the vehicle until full payment. Therefore, you cannot state the vehicle as an asset in your application, however, this creditor must clearly be pointed out to us. The bank may request that the vehicle is handed back to them.

1. For the next 4 year period, most Courts will not grant an application for rehabilitation.
2. You will not be able to incur any further debts as long as you have not been rehabilitated. Should you wish to purchase a vehicle or rent a property etc, you will need to contact your trustee in order to discuss the same and request their written permission.

1. There is no maximum Debt amount before you qualify for sequestration.
2. No further interest is accrued on your accounts.
3. We notify only your creditors of your application for sequestration. There is no Emolument Attachment Order that goes through your Employer. Therefore third parties will have no knowledge about your application.
4. You do not need to attend the Court Application
5. There is no attachment to your salary. The only payments that will be made are when you decide that you wish to repurchase your assets back out of the estate.
6. In some circumstances, your trustee can arrange on your behalf that the vehicle that is under a lease agreement with a bank, stays in your possession as long as your payments are up to date, especially if you need a vehicle for your work. This will depend on the trustee.

1. Unfortunately, Attorneys are not allowed to advertise their fees on a website. Please contact our office for our fee structure.
2. Further, there will be a valuation fee. This fee will be included in your application. Once the application is granted, we provide the court with a taxed bill. The taxed bill is then forward to the Trustee for payment. In certain circumstances, the Trustees only pay at a certain stage, and therefore our office will first make payment to the evaluator in order to assist you with your application.
3. Further, there is also the notice that is published in the Government Gazette and the Local Newspaper which is a disbursement and will be dealt with the same way as number 2 above.
4. Should you have an immovable property that is auctioned or you do not wish to keep your moveable assets, there will be auction fees. The auction fees will also be dealt with in the same manner as is set out in number 2 above.
5. The Trustee and the Master also require a fee. This is also included in your application and does not get paid directly by yourself but by the 21c to the R of the estate.

1. We are obliged in terms of the FIC Act to have the following of our clients on our files:

Copy of your Identity documents,

Proof of Address, not older than 3 months,

and a document that reflects your income tax reference number ;

1. All accounts from your creditors that reflect their address as well as the outstanding balance of each account;
2. List of your assets – the document that you will need to provide the information on will be provided to you by our office.

1. After we have received your application form for sequestration, our office will place an advertisement in the Government Gazette and one local newspaper.
2. Our office prepares a statement for you that you will need to sign before a Commissioner of Oath. This statement will then be lodged at the local Magistrate Court as well as the Master of the High court for inspection by any creditor.
3. All creditors will further be advised of your application for sequestration by way of a registered letter. Should any creditor phone you for payment, you are welcome to refer them to our office and on their request, we can forward the registered letter to their specified address.
4. One of the Creditors that we also notified of your application is SARS. Therefore we will need your income tax reference number. If you have not been registered for income tax, we still need to serve the application through them. Therefore, if you think that you may owe SARS an amount, please declare this to us when you forward your application form.
5. As soon as all the documents are ready, will we approach to court for a set down date. On the date that the application is heard, you do not need to appear in Court as the application is brought ex parte (motion application where all the facts are stated before the court by way of an affidavit)
6. Should the Court grant your application, our office will only receive the Court Order between 2 – 4 weeks after the set down date. You will also receive a copy of the Court Order.
7. The Curator will be appointed to handle all the financials of your estate. Sometimes a Curator is appointed within a month’s period, but most of the applications take a long while before a curator is appointed. The Curator will contact you as soon as he/she has been appointed by the Master of the High Court. They will make an arrangement to meet with you in order to explain the process of your application further.

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