TSEM6032 - Legal background to trusts & estates: the items which form the deceased's estate

When a person dies, his various possessions form his estate. They may include money, clothes, furniture, investments, land and property.

The personal representatives become the legal owners of all types of property left by the deceased. But they do not become the owners of any ‘gift on account of death’ (donatio mortis causa – TSEM6033). They are required to duly administer the estate on behalf of the legatees.