Wills Week & What Will Be Left to Inherit as South Africans Default and Retire With Debt

As Wills Week comes to a close, NDA warns that rising debt and defaults may erode the financial legacy South Africans hope to leave behind.

It’s Wills Week in South Africa, under the theme Prepare Today, Protect Tomorrow. But with 208,000 more South Africans falling into default in the second quarter of 2026, debt experts warn the real inheritance question may not be who gets your estate, but how much will be left to inherit.

Head of National Debt Advisors, Sebastien Alexanderson, says the theme has never rung truer as the latest Eighty20 and XDS Credit Stress Report shows that 41.8% of credit active South Africans are in default on at least one credit agreement, meaning they are three months or more behind on repayments.

“Most people hear the word inheritance and think about what happens after someone dies. But a financial legacy is being built, or reduced, every month while you are still alive,” said Alexanderson.

“A will can decide who receives your assets. It cannot create value that has already been lost to years of unaffordable debt repayments,” he said.
Alexanderson said not all debt is harmful. Home loans, vehicle finance and credit can help households build assets and fund essential purchases. The problem starts when repayments consume so much income that families can no longer save, invest or reduce their debt.

South African Reserve Bank data shows household debt reached 62.2% of annual disposable income in the first quarter of 2026, while debt servicing costs stood at 8.4%.

Alexanderson said that does not mean households spend 62% of every salary on repayments. It shows how large total household debt is compared with annual income, and for families already under financial pressure, the national average can hide a much tougher reality.

“If your salary increases but every increase is immediately absorbed by repayments, you may be earning more without actually becoming financially stronger,” said Alexanderson.

“That is the part families should understand when they talk about leaving something behind.”

Moreover, South Africans aged 65 and older are carrying significant debt into retirement. Eighty20 found that Comfortable Retirees held R22.3 billion in overdue balances at the end of 2025, while its lower-income senior segment, Humble Elders, also recorded rising defaults. Together, these older consumers took out about 840,000 new loans in just three months.

“For many South Africans over 65, retirement does not arrive with a paid-off home and a clean balance sheet. Many of our pensioners are still supporting family, covering medical costs and servicing credit,” said Alexanderson.

The pressure is also reaching the courts. Civil judgments for debt rose 7.4% in the three months to May 2026, while their value increased 13.8%.

“Consumers often know what is in their bank account, but they have never worked out what they truly own, what they still owe, and what would actually be left behind.”

This is why Alexanderson said Wills Week is not only about who inherits your estate but also a moment to measure your living inheritance, what you own today, minus what you owe, and whether that position is improving.

“The question is not whether you have debt. It is whether that debt is helping you build a future or quietly eroding it,” said Alexanderson.

He said, for many households, high repayments are absorbing money that could be going into savings, investments or paying off assets. When debt becomes unaffordable, consumers should review their options early.

“Most South Africans simply want to leave their family with a secure home, some savings and fewer financial problems than they had themselves. A will decides who receives what you leave behind. Your financial decisions today determine how much there is to leave.”

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Author: Omega Ngema from Financial Wealth Holdings on behalf of National Debt Advisors.

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