A will template for South Africa. Prepare it here, sign it in ink.
A South African will is signed on paper: the ECT Act gives no validity to signing one electronically (Schedule 2). You sign at the end and on each earlier page, before two witnesses present at the same time (Wills Act s2(1)(a)). KuduDoc turns plain answers into a simple will and prints it with every signing step.
Then photograph the signed pages. KuduDoc seals the scan as a reference copy and keeps a note of where the original is, so the people you trust can find it. A will prepared here is never sent for electronic signature.
Signing steps last checked 25 September 2026
No card, no expiry date.
Question 9 of 9 · Witnesses
Who will witness your will?
Two people aged 14 or older, in the room with you at the same time when you sign. KuduDoc checks their names against everyone your will names.
Zanele Mthembu receives your grandmother’s sewing machine and is nominated as guardian of Ayanda and Lwazi. A witness, or a witness’s spouse, can lose a benefit the will gives them, and a nomination as guardian counts as a benefit (Wills Act s4A).
Choose another witnessRead section 4AIs either witness married to someone your will names?
YesNoYour answers 9
- About youNomvula Khumalo, born 4 May 1988
- MarriageMarried to Sipho Khumalo
- Who inheritsSipho Khumalo, everything
- Who stands inAyanda and Lwazi, equal shares
- Items1 item, to Zanele Mthembu
- ExecutorSipho Khumalo
- GuardianZanele Mthembu
- Earlier willsRevoked
- Witnesses1 name to look at
Saved as you go. The draft sits in your Library.Delete draft
Your will in plain words
Read it before you print. Change an answer and this page changes with it.
- Who inherits
- Everything you own goes to Sipho Khumalo, your husband.
- If Sipho dies first
- Ayanda Khumalo and Lwazi Khumalo inherit, in equal shares.
- An item
- Your grandmother’s sewing machine goes to Zanele Mthembu.
- Executor
- You nominate Sipho Khumalo.
- Guardian
- You nominate Zanele Mthembu for Ayanda and Lwazi while they are under 18.
- Earlier wills
- This will revokes any earlier will.
Past a simple will?
When an answer goes past what these questions cover, KuduDoc says so before it prints.
- A trust for childrenNo
- Property outside South AfricaNo
- A businessNo
- A will made jointly with your spouseNo
Witnesses 2
- PW Pieter van WykNeighbour Not named in your will
- GN Grace NaidooColleague Not named in your will
Signed by the testator, Nomvula Khumalo, at on , in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, all present at the same time.
Nomvula Khumalo · TestatorAs witnesses, we sign in the presence of the testator and of each other.
1 · WitnessFull name 2 · WitnessFull name Page 4 of 4Ready to print
PDFWill of Nomvula Khumalo.pdf4 pages · A4 PDFSigning sheet.pdfNot part of your will- Paper
- A4, one side per page
- Scale
- 100%
- Every page
- Its number and a line for your signature
- KuduDoc marks
- None: no seal, no QR code, no certificate page
Reference copy of a signed will
In your Library · signed 12 September 2026
- Sealed
- 12 Sep 2026, 19:42 SAST
- A copy
- Anyone can check it is unchanged since sealing
- Read it again
- 12 Sep 2027, then once a year · Change
Where the original is
- Place
- Fire-resistant box, main bedroom cupboard, 22 Jacaranda Avenue, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg
- Who holds it
- Sipho Khumalo
- How to reach them
- At home; the spare key is with Zanele Mthembu
Changed 12 Sep 2026 · kept in ActivityEdit
Emergency access Family
- SKSipho KhumaloTrusted person
- ZMZanele MthembuTrusted person
Can see this note and the reference copy. Wait: 3 days, unless you cancel.
How to make a will in South Africa, in five steps
Answer plain questions
One question at a time, each with a single line saying why it is asked. Answers save as you go, so you can stop and come back. The draft sits in your Library, and you can delete it.
- The questions. Who you are; whether you are married, and how; who inherits, and in what shares; who inherits a share if that person dies before you; any particular items you leave to someone; who you nominate as executor; a guardian for children under 18; and that this will revokes any earlier will.
- Checks as you go. KuduDoc asks your date of birth first: you can make a will from the age of 16 (Wills Act s4). When you enter your witnesses’ names, it checks them against everyone the will names (the people who inherit, the executor, a guardian) and asks whether either witness is married to one of them (s4A).
- Your will in plain words. Before anything prints, a one-page summary of who gets what, who stands in if someone dies first, and who you nominate as executor. You read it, then print.
- Past a simple will. Some answers take a will past what these questions cover, such as a trust for children, property outside South Africa, a business, or a will made jointly with your spouse. When yours do, KuduDoc says so before it prints. If your estate is complex, get professional advice.
What your last will and testament covers
| Part of the will | What it says | From your answer to |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | Your full name and ID number, and that this is your last will and testament | Who you are |
| Earlier wills | Any earlier will is revoked | Earlier wills |
| Heirs | Who inherits, and in what shares | Who inherits |
| If an heir dies first | Who takes that person’s share | Who stands in |
| Particular items | Who receives each item you name | Items |
| Executor | Who you nominate | Executor |
| Guardian | Who you nominate for children under 18 | Guardian |
| Signing | Your signature, the two witnesses’ signatures, the place and the date | Printed; filled in by hand when you sign |
Print it the way the Act expects
- Every page numbered, every page signed. KuduDoc prints your will as a PDF for A4, one side per page. Every page shows its number, such as ‘Page 2 of 4’, and has a line for your signature. The last page ends with your signature, then two witness blocks, the place and the date.
- A signing sheet beside it. A separate signing sheet lists the steps below. It is not part of the will: keep it beside you when you sign.
- No KuduDoc marks on the will. The will’s pages carry no KuduDoc marks: no seal, no QR code, no certificate page. The paper you sign is the will.
- Signing with a mark. If you sign with a mark, or someone signs for you at your direction, the Act also needs a commissioner of oaths, present when the will is signed, to certify who you are and that it is your will, and to sign every page except the one carrying the certificate (Wills Act s2(1)(a)(v)). Tell KuduDoc, and it adds the certificate in the form the Act sets out (s2(4), Schedule 1).
- Print at 100%.
- Write nothing on it before you sign.
- Keep the pages together.
Sign it with two witnesses
Signing steps last checked 25 September 2026
- Choose two witnesses aged 14 or older who could give evidence in court (Wills Act s1). They, and their spouses, should get nothing under the will, and neither should be nominated as executor, trustee or guardian (s4A). KuduDoc has already checked the names you gave it.
- Meet together: you and both witnesses in the same room at the same time (s2(1)(a)(ii)).
- Sign at the end of the will while both watch.
- Sign each earlier page, anywhere on the page. Initials count (s1; s2(1)(a)(iv)).
- Both witnesses sign, in front of you and of each other (s2(1)(a)(iii)).
- Fill in the place and the date yourself.
- Change nothing afterwards. A change on a signed will needs your signature and both witnesses’ again (s2(1)(b)). A new will is simpler.
Why not electronically?
The ECT Act gives no validity to signing, keeping or presenting a will electronically (Schedule 2), and its writing and signature sections do not apply to the Wills Act (Schedule 1). So a will prepared here has no “send for signature” step, and KuduDoc won’t send one it recognises as a will. See the other documents that stay on paper, and what the ECT Act says about electronic signatures.
After signing: a sealed reference scan
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The pages, in one PDF.
Photograph each page with your phone, or scan them. KuduDoc puts the pages into one PDF, in order, and seals it, so anyone can later check that a copy is unchanged since sealing.
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Filed as a reference copy.
It is filed in your Library as ‘Reference copy of a signed will’, with the date you signed.
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A reminder to read it.
KuduDoc sends you a reminder to read it again once a year, or on the date you choose. If something changes, change your answers and print a new will.
A sealed scan does not replace a paper original where one is required. For a will, the signed paper is the will.
Where the original is
Your family needs the paper. The note tells them where it is.
- A note beside the scan. Write down where the signed original is kept: the place, who holds it and how to reach them. The note sits beside the reference scan, and every change to it is kept in the record’s activity.
- The original goes to the Master. After a death, whoever holds the original must deliver it to the Master of the High Court (Administration of Estates Act s8(1)).
- On Family, the people you trust can see it. On Family, the people you choose through emergency access can see the note and the reference scan, on your rules: they ask from their own accounts, you are told and can cancel, and you set the wait. Keep both in the Library, because the Vault is never part of emergency access. Emergency access is not a will, a power of attorney or an executorship.
Keep your other papers the same way, with a checklist for the rest of your household’s papers.
Questions people ask
Can I sign my will in KuduDoc?
No. KuduDoc prepares your will and prints it, and you sign the paper in ink, in front of two witnesses present at the same time (Wills Act s2(1)(a)). The ECT Act gives no validity to signing a will electronically (Schedule 2), so a will prepared in KuduDoc has no step that sends it for signature.
Who can witness a will in South Africa?
Anyone aged 14 or older who is competent to give evidence in court (Wills Act s1). Choose two people who get nothing under your will and whose spouses get nothing either: a witness, or a witness’s spouse, can lose a benefit the will gives them, and naming a witness as executor, trustee or guardian counts as a benefit (s4A). KuduDoc checks the witness names you enter against everyone your will names.
Which pages of my will do I sign?
All of them. You sign at the end of the will and on every earlier page, anywhere on the page, and initials count as signing (Wills Act s1 and s2(1)(a)). Both witnesses sign the will in front of you and of each other. KuduDoc prints a line for your signature on every page and the witness blocks at the end.
Who can make a will in South Africa?
Anyone aged 16 or older, unless, when they make it, they cannot appreciate the nature and effect of what they are doing (Wills Act s4). KuduDoc asks your date of birth before anything else.
Where should I keep the original will?
Somewhere safe that the people you trust know about, for example with your attorney or in a fire-resistant box at home. After a death, whoever holds the original must deliver it to the Master of the High Court (Administration of Estates Act s8(1)). KuduDoc keeps a sealed scan as a reference copy and a note of where the original is; the signed paper is the will.
Can I change my will after signing it?
A change made on a signed will counts only if you sign next to it in front of two witnesses present at the same time, and they sign it too, in front of you and each other (Wills Act s2(1)(b)). A new will is simpler. KuduDoc keeps your answers, so you change them, print a new will and sign it the same way.
What if a will was not signed properly?
A court can order the Master to accept a document that misses a formality, if it is satisfied the person meant it as their will (Wills Act s2(3)). That takes a court application after the death. Signing it properly, with two witnesses present together, spares your family that.
What does it cost?
Preparing a will is free on Personal, with a KuduDoc account. Family, R99 a month (R948 a year) per occupied seat, adds emergency access to the location note and the reference scan.
The law behind each step
Last checked 25 September 2026
- Wills Act 7 of 1953justice.gov.zaWho may make a will and witness it, how it is signed, and changes after signing (s1, s2, s4, s4A).
- Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002gov.zaSchedules 1 and 2: why a will is not signed electronically.
- Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965justice.gov.zaSection 8(1): delivering the original to the Master.
- Van der Merwe v Master of the High Court [2010] ZASCA 99supremecourtofappeal.org.zaA will that misses a formality: the court application after the death (s2(3)).
Prepare · Print · Sign in ink
Prepare your will today.
Answer the questions, print it, sign it with two witnesses. Will preparation is free on Personal, with a KuduDoc account. Personal is free, with no card and no expiry date.
Family, R99 a month (R948 a year) per occupied seat, adds emergency access to the note and the scan, with a 14-day trial.