bobmiller900

Hello,
I'm looking for advice on how to transfer approximately R500k from South Africa to the UK.

The estate proceeds from my late parents are held in my brothers account in a large South African bank.
I am a UK citizen (born in UK) and have permanent residence and South African citizenship (lived there for 25 years). Thus I have dual citizenship.
I have not emigrated (left) South Africa, I am still a citizen.
I now live in the UK.
I do not have a South African bank account.

Questions:
What is the quickest and safest way to move this amount of money from South Africa to the UK?
What are the annual exchange limits on moving money out of South Africa and would these cause my brother any issues?
How long does the South African Reserve Bank usually take to clear such a transfer in the case of a bank-to-bank (SA to UK) transaction?

many thanks
Bob Miller

MartynK

The easiest way, by far, is for your brother to get in touch with the foreign exchange department of his own bank. They'll be able to answer all the questions, and manage the transfer for you.

JAJ

Are the estate proceeds really in your brother's personal bank account rather than in an account maintained in the name of the estate?

bobmiller900

Yes, they are in my brothers account.

JAJ

So were the funds left to him rather than you?

I can't comment on specific South African estate/probate law and practice, but normally the Executor holds funds in an account in the name of the estate before passing on the funds to specific beneficiaries. It would not be normal for the Executor to put funds intended for you into an account controlled by your brother. Did you sign papers waiving your rights in this respect?

bobmiller900

The source of the funds, the executorship and how this has been performed is not the issue really, this has been taken care of and my brother is in possession of cash belonging to me that I wish to have transferred to my own account here in the UK; this is the primary question.

What is the quickest and safest way to move this amount of money from South Africa to the UK?
What are the annual exchange limits on moving money out of South Africa and would these cause my brother any issues?
How long does the South African Reserve Bank usually take to clear such a transfer in the case of a bank-to-bank (SA to UK) transaction?

thanks.

ededed

Bank transfer. Most banks will have a forex transfer department. You will need the recipient IBAN and SWIFT codes, the address of the recipient and the bank in the UK.

You can send R5m a year for any reason - simply declare this as a gift. I send alimony every month and because of the value classify it as a gift and the SARB are happy with this. It is fully declared to all the authorities. They are only interested in annual amounts over R5m and require paperwork if you declare it as anything else.

3-5 days. Expect to pay 3% commission, plus fees.

bobmiller900

Thanks very much, this is all I was after.

ededed

I know, I'm absolutely brilliant. I was on a speedboat on the Vaal dam, sorry you had to wait so long for someone intelligent to pop past.