By Jonathan Campbell
In 2024, the Rhodes University Law Clinic will continue contributing monthly articles for publication in Grocott’s Mail as part of its “Rights with RULAC” series. This series forms part of the Law Clinic’s community education programme, which seeks to improve knowledge and understanding in the broader community about specific areas of law which the public is more likely to encounter.
Besides this series, Law Clinic staff contribute to regular talk shows on similar topics on several community radio stations (currently Kingfisher FM, Ndlambe FM and Rhodes Music Radio). They also facilitate in-person workshops in schools, churches and other community groups, all to raise awareness of legal rights pertinent to that particular group (e.g., bullying in the secondary school context).
The theme of Grocott’s articles for 2024 will be Wills and Succession. We do not like to think about our deaths, nor those of our loved ones, and yet there is nothing more certain than this in our futures. There are very likely to be significant legal and financial ramifications of anyone’s death, which have to be confronted and managed. This can be difficult to do on top of the grief and emotional hardship suffered by families at this time.
This series will assist readers through this process practically and logically by addressing sequentially:
- preparation for death;
- what steps to take when someone dies, and documentation to attend to;
- the significance of dying with or without a Will;
- the impact of customary law and life partnerships;
- the administration of a deceased estate;
- maintenance claims against an estate, and
- immovable property that forms part of a deceased estate.
The first article will be published on 1 March 2024.
The Rhodes University Law Clinic provides free legal advice and representation to indigent members of the Makhanda community who qualify for free legal services in terms of a means test. The Clinic also offers practical legal education to all senior law students at Rhodes University via a compulsory LLB course based on their experience at the Clinic. In addition, the Clinic provides training and on-site backup legal services to about 30 community-based paralegal advice offices throughout the Eastern Cape Province. Finally, the Clinic endeavours to improve knowledge and understanding of the law in the general public through its community education programme, of which this Grocott’s series forms part.
Jonathan Campbell, Director, Rhodes University Law Clinic
