Our Services

Administration Of Estates

“’tis impossible to be sure of anything but Death and Taxes”,
Christopher Bullock coined the commonly used phrase in his work - the Cobbler of Preston (published in 1716), predating the phrase in Benjamin Franklin’s letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy in 1789.

The best inheritance that you can leave your loved ones with is the knowledge that an expert will lead them through the endless bureaucratic red tape and overwhelming legal requirements. When a loved one has passed away, the last thing that you want to focus on is the administration of his/her estate. We have the knowledge and compassion to assist you, advise you and attend to administrative process leaving you to mourn the death of your loved one and find comfort in knowing that your legal rights are protected.

Contracts

Whether you buy a house, enter into a partnership, start working at a company, buy a cellphone or buy clothes on account, you will enter into a contract. Do not get caught by the “fine print” in contracts. Contracts are governing our daily lives, not only written contracts, but also oral contracts, contracts through conduct and many more. If you have found yourself entangled in a contractual dispute, you will know the importance of professional advice that could have prevented or at the very least limited the disputes.

Contracts are the end result of negotiations in different fields of the law. A contract is merely the recordal of the agreement reached. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the correct advice is obtained regarding the field of law that the contract refers to. Only once you are advised on the law applicable to your specific matter should a contract be drafted. Our knowledge and services in the interpretation and drafting of contracts are noteworthy.

Consumer Law

Conveyancing And Related Property Law Matters

We specialise in conveyancing, transfers, bond registration, legislative and regulatory advice, commercial property transactions and advice on property development in commercial, urban, residential, coastal, industrial and agricultural areas including opening of township registers and all other aspects of Property Law. Acting for property developers and financial institutions, the team offers the collective expertise of some of South Africa’s most experienced contractual and transactional real estate lawyers to assist clients and developers with the structuring of their transactions.

Corporate / Commercial Law

Do you consider entering into a business venture? Do you know the pitfalls and requirements for each legal entity be it a company, close corporation, trust etc.? Have you entered into such a venture and are confronted and frustrated by the legalese of this field? You will be assisted by attorneys who are well known in this field.

We are proud that our senior partner is a co-author and specialist contributor of the well-known publication of LexisNexis: Close Corporations and Companies Service.

Our corporate clients extend to international legal entities, airport companies, and local commercial companies. This said, we have an open door for and the expertise to also assist small and medium enterprises on their road to success.

Correspondent Services

Our offices are ideally situated within the geographical jurisdiction of the following courthouses:-

• Krugersdorp
• Kagiso
• Randfontein
• Roodepoort

As attorneys we understand the need for fast, efficient, and friendly services and therefore we ensure that every instruction receives the personal attention of an attorney. Our firm is well equipped to provide your firm with correspondent services in respect of Regional and Magistrates’ Court matters.

Criminal Law

Debt Collection

Debt collection law is the legal way to recover your outstanding debt from debtors. This is conducted with a specialist lawyer’s services. These services allow you and your business to legally recover any outstanding payments, and that is done through fair, yet persistent means of communication, and if that does not materialise in the debts being settled, the case will escalate. Debt collection law is a very time-consuming activity that has become highly demanded in South Africa. The success of Swart Redelinghuys Nel comes from the dedication of our team to collect the debt owed. This is in the continuous follow-up procedure that causes immense pressure and responsibility upon the debtor to acknowledge liability and ultimately to settle the debt. We are happy to assist you in recovering your outstanding debt, and we have a specialised team that is dedicated to helping our clients to collect outstanding debt. Our team members are dedicated, passionate and professional that specialise in debt collectors’ law.

Estate Planning

We possess the care, sensitivity, knowledge and experience to assist you to architect an estate plan that suits your individual needs and protects your assets.

Should you register your property in a trust, or a company, or transfer it to your heirs? What is a trust, when will you register a company or when will it be best to register property in the names of minor children? How do you know what is the best legal structure available? The estate that you plan today will be the legacy that you leave to your family upon your death. Do not underestimate the value of professional advice to protect you and your heirs from estate planning that will turn out to be inadequate and more expensive than it could have been. Our knowledge in this field outweighs those of our competition.

Family Law (Divorce, Separation And Maintenance)

We are skilled at resolving family law disputes with a constructive mindset. By working holistically with our clients and opposing parties, our goal is to ensure that both parties are satisfied. We offer expert advice in all aspects of divorce, separation and family law matters. Our law obliges parties to attempt to mediate disputes before proceeding to trial. We employ alternative dispute resolution methods to minimise costs, avoid unnecessary acrimony and speed up the matrimonial disputes. Our work ethos focuses on compassionate and comprehensive matrimonial law services including (but not limited to) antenuptial agreements, Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships, divorce, divorce mediation, childcare and contact cases, children’s rights, maintenance disputes and co-habitation agreements.

Foreclosures

We attend to this difficult field of the law with the professionalism and sensitivity required but also with an unapologetic approach that is necessary to obtain the best possible outcome for our client.

Insurance Law

We offer multi-disciplinary insurance law expertise allowing a seamless and dedicated service to our clients. Our insurance lawyers combine a detailed knowledge of the law with a commercial awareness of the insurance industry.

Labour And Employment Law

Our labour legal practitioners have the knowledge, skill, and fortitude to navigate the legal landscape when it comes to labour law matters. We deal with the Labour Courts and CCMA on a regular basis and can assist you with all facets of CCMA litigation and labour court litigation. We offer the following labour services:

CCMA:

• Conciliations;
• Arbitrations;
• Con/Arb
• Rescission Applications;
• Certification of Arbitration Awards; and
• Section 142A Applications.

Labour Court:

• Review Applications;
• Statements of Case; and
• Urgent interdicts.

Disciplinary Hearings:

• Chairing disciplinary hearings;
• Providing recommendations;
• Acting on behalf of Complainant; and
• Acting on behalf of employee.

Drafting of relevant contracts and/or documents:

• Permanent employment contract;
• Fixed Term Contracts;
• Independent contractor contracts;
• Mutual separation Agreements;
• Written and/or final warnings;
• Notice to Attend disciplinary hearings; and
• Notice of Suspension.
• Retrenchments
• Drafting of Notices;
• Assisting with general advice;
• Assisting in the retrenchment process.

Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Require assistance with High Court or Magistrates’ Court litigation or arbitration matters? We can assist.

Our professionals effectively pursue litigation across all areas of the law with persistence and professionalism. The result is the efficient resolution of a dispute, and where required, specialists from other service areas are involved to assist. This creates a recipe for success that we know is beneficial to our clients. Our litigation department has been in existence for many decades and has shown significant growth over the past few years.

Liquidations, Insolvencies & Sequestrations

Liquidation (also known as “winding up”) is when a debtor company which owes money to a creditor is wound up. The creditor would typically apply to court to after having demanded payment from the debtor company to no avail, to have the debtor company placed into liquidation. (“compulsory liquidation”).

Insolvency is a state of financial distress in which a business or person is unable to pay their debt. It can lead to insolvency proceedings, in which legal action will be taken against the insolvent person or entity, and assets may be liquidated to pay off outstanding debts.

Sequestration is a legal process by which an individual is declared insolvent by an Order in the High Court in terms whereof certain of your assets are handed over to a trustee, after which a Trustee (appointed by the Master of the High court) must according to the rules of the Insolvency Act, sell your assets.

Mediation

Mediation is defined as a voluntary process entered into by agreement between the parties to a dispute, in which an impartial and independent person, the mediator, assists the parties to either:

• resolve the dispute between them, or
• identify issues upon which agreement can be reached, or
• explore areas of compromise, or
• generate options to resolve the dispute, or
•  clarify priorities,

by facilitating discussions between the parties and assisting them in their negotiations to resolve the dispute.
Our team of Dispute Resolution Lawyers have all been trained in Civil Mediation and successfully completed training that complies with the draft standards for Civil Mediation as published by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

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Accidents, Injury & Public Liability

Although we prefer not to think about it, motor vehicle accidents, personal injury and public liability are a reality of life. Our beloved four-legged friends may decide to defend you to the extent that you receive summons for the personal injury suffered by the third party who might have been completely innocent. Do you know what your legal rights are in such a situation? Have your farm animals ventured into the road and a vehicle collided with them? Do you own a business and one of your clients slipped and fell on the wet floor?

It is not easy to be confronted with claims in these and other circumstances, neither is it easy to know what you may claim, against whom and what the procedures and time frames are.

We have the expertise to assist you in all matters relating to motor vehicle accidents, insurance claims, personal injury and public liability claims.

Notarial

The nature of the services that they render is dependent on the highest integrity and ethical values and a Notary Public is held to a higher standard of care than an attorney.

The services of a Notary Public are not limited to documents used in South Africa, but a notary is also needed for the noting of protests regarding a bill of exchange as well as a Notary Apostille and legalisation services which include attestation, authentication and notarising of documents for use in foreign countries.

Protection Of Personal Information

The Protection of Personal Information Act poses a huge compliance challenge for any business- some of the requirements are that you obtain the consent of any person (including a legal entity) before you use, store, move, or destroy their “personal information”. Penalties for non-compliance are intimidating - fines of up to R10 million, prison sentences of up to 10 years as well as damages claims which can include aggravated damages, interest and costs. How can we assist? We, in corroboration with our expert compliance team, can provide training to the key personnel in your organisation tackling compliance with POPI, undertake a compliance audit, provide you with a compliance checklist, assist with drafting the necessary consent clauses and forms to include into your terms and conditions, provide written opinions on any aspects where interpretation of the Act as it applies to your business is unclear, and consult and advise you as required.

Town planning

Property development requires the correct land use rights on the correct property size. Without expert assistance, the process of obtaining the necessary rights may delay the development for months to such an extent that it may become financially unfeasible to develop.

A few of the processes that may be required are township establishment, subdivision of erven or farm portions, removal of restrictive title conditions, rezoning or application for consent uses.

Together with our litigation and conveyancing departments, we have the expertise necessary to assist you with the most complicated applications in the labyrinth of town planning requirements. Our focus is on enabling you to obtain the necessary rights to develop the property in the shortest possible time frame.