Curator Bonds

A Curator Bonis is a person appointed by a court to manage the assets and financial affairs of another person unable to do so because of mental or physical incapacity. The term “bonis” means “goods” (as in assets) in Latin.
Essentially a Curator bonis may be appointed in one of the following ways:

1. By way of application to the High Court in terms of Uniform Rule 57, by a Curator ad litem whose proceedings precede the appointment of a Curator bonis.
2. By way of application to the High Court in terms of section 30(2)(b) of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, No. 121 of 1998 (“POCA”) called a “realisation order” where the Curator is appointed by the State to realise certain property owned by the defendant.
3. By way of application to the Master of the High Court in terms of Section 60 of the Mental Health Act, 2002 (any person over the age of 18) may apply to the Master or for the appointment of an administrator for a mentally ill person or person with severe or profound intellectual disability.

A Curator bonis may be required to administer the estate of a major who is incapacitated, a minor who is incapacitated or a minor who is able bodied, however requires a Curator until such time as he has reached the age of majority to deal responsibly with assets either inherited by or awarded to him/her. Curators may also as part of their duties be required to set up a Trust for the incapacitated person. In such a case the Curator may also be a Trustee of the Trust and be required to furnish security in such capacity to the Master of the High Court.

A Curator bonis appointed by the Master to replace a previous Curator who did not perform to the Master’s satisfaction is known as a Dative Curator.

All Curators are required to furnish security to the satisfaction of the Master of the High Court. All undertakings to the Master furnished by the Curators need to be guaranteed by an insurance company which is why Curators require surety bonds. The provision of a suretyship is not an indemnity policy but rather an accessory agreement by which the surety binds itself to the Master for the Curator’s performance whilst in office. As with all suretyships, should the principal debtor (Curator) default and the surety have to make good any loss arising from such default, the surety has a right of recourse against the Curator for that amount which it has paid to the Master.

Curator bonds are provided through our lead Insurer Safire Insurance Company Limited and may be lodged by us with the Master of the High Court on your behalf should you require us to do so. At Shackleton Risk we have representatives in every province to offer administration support to our clients for the duration of the bond.

What you will require to obtain a curator bond through us:

Non-professional Curator

• An approved application for joint facility
• Master’s Form J262 (Undertaking)
• Copy of your ID
• Copy of person under curatorship’s ID
• Inventory or Court order (as the case may be)
• Master’s Form J197 (Application for appointment as Curator)
• Details of the professional who will be assisting you with the administration of the person under curatorship’s estate
• An Undertaking from the professional to notify us if his/ her mandate has been terminated by you; and
• A Suretyship by the professional guaranteeing your performance jointly with the surety to the Master of the High Court.

Professional Curator

• An approved application for facility
• Master’s Form J262 (Undertaking)
• Copy of your ID
• Copy of person under curatorship’s ID
• Inventory or Court order (as the case may be)
• Master’s Form J197 (Application for appointment as Curator)
• Proof of Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Surety bond premiums for Curator bonds are set by the Master of the High Court. The premium is an annual premium of 0.6% plus VAT on the asset value of the estate, which shall renew annually until the estate has been finalised.