Registering your assets in your parent’s name can backfire, especially when the parent passes away or when marriages break down. According to Martin Vermaak Attorneys, a Sandton-based law firm specialising in family law, divorce and estate matters, putting your assets in someone else’s name may seem like a harmless decision but it can have serious consequences. “The Deeds Office title-holder is the legal owner.
Who paid does not change that,” said the firm’s director, Martin Vermaak. Vermaak explained that when property or land is registered in a parent’s name, that person legally owns it, regardless of who paid for it. “If married in community of property, using joint-estate money to put assets in a parent’s name can trigger spousal-consent rules and financial adjustments under the Matrimonial Property Act,” he said.
If your mother dies without a will, her spouse and all her children share the inheritance, even if the property was bought with your money When the parent passes away, those assets automatically form part of their estate. If there is no will, intestate succession applies: her spouse [if any] and her descendants inherit first,” Vermaak said. In other words, if your mother dies without a will, her spouse and all her children share the inheritance, even if the property was bought with your money.
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Vermaak said proof of payment also doesn’t automatically change ownership, it may support a personal claim or help prove a nominee or simulated arrangement, especially for movables. “But it does not automatically change ownership of land already registered in her name,” he said. He added that a will could help if it specifically states that the property should go back to the person who paid for it. “Yes, if your mother’s valid will specifically bequeaths the asset to you,” he said.
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