Receiving investment income and inheritances after you’ve emigrated

Leaving South Africa doesn’t automatically mean your investments follow you. A living annuity, for instance, is legally required to stay with its South African provider even after you emigrate — you keep receiving income from it, you just can’t move the underlying capital abroad. Whether that ongoing income can be paid directly into a foreign bank account then depends on your residency status: a full South African resident, someone who has formally ceased tax residency, and a non-resident are all treated differently under South Africa’s exchange control rules.

The same applies to what your beneficiaries receive

Death benefits work in a similar way. Products like a living annuity, endowment or tax-free investment usually pay directly to your nominated beneficiaries, while unit trusts form part of your estate and are administered by your executor according to your will. Whether a beneficiary living abroad can receive their benefit into a foreign account again comes down to their own residency status and the type of product — each with its own requirements, from a death certificate to, for larger estates, review by an authorised dealer bank.

Keeping your beneficiary nominations up to date, on every product you hold, remains the single most useful thing you can do in advance — regardless of where you or your beneficiaries end up living.

This article is general information and not advice. Silke Financial Services is an Authorised Financial Services Provider, FSP No. 12462.