Mr. Errol Meyer will address the FISA Conference, sponsored by Hollard Court Bonds,
on 9 September 2026 on the topic: “Applying First Principles Thinking to Life Policies
and Estate Duty: Avoiding Economic Double Taxation Where Policy Ownership and Life
Assured Do Not Align”.
To register for the 16th Annual FISA Conference – click here
Policies are frequently used in estate planning, business succession, buy-and-sell
arrangements, keyperson cover, and business liability planning. However, estate duty
complications often arise where the life assured, policy owner, premium payer, and
beneficiary are not the same person. In these cases, the policy proceeds may be paid
outside the deceased estate yet still trigger estate duty consequences in the life
assured’s estate.
This session applies first principles thinking to the estate duty treatment of life policies.
Instead of starting with labels such as “buy-and-sell policy”, “keyperson policy,” or
“business liability policy”, the discussion strips the arrangement back to its
fundamentals: Who owned the policy? Whose life was insured? Who paid the
premiums? Who received the proceeds? Why was the policy effected? And what
economic benefit arose on death?
The focus will be on identifying situations where incorrect structuring, poor
documentation, inappropriate beneficiary nominations, or incorrect executor treatment
may result in unnecessary economic double taxation. The session will also consider the
practical interaction between the financial planner’s pre-death advice and the
executor’s post-death estate duty obligations.
The objective is to provide fiduciary practitioners, executors, financial planners, and
estate-planning professionals with a practical framework for analyzing life policies from
first principles, identifying avoidable estate duty leakage, and preventing unnecessary
liquidity pressure or double taxation in deceased estates.
Errol Meyer is a Certified Financial Planner® with extensive knowledge in finance, law,
education, and taxation. He has written many respected articles on tax and financial
planning. He has also created study materials for the financial services industry and
universities. He has served as an examiner and moderator at several universities. His
work has greatly influenced the future of financial professionals.
He served as a legal adviser in the financial services industry and as a Tax Advocate at
SARS. Errol has experience in tax litigation and alternative dispute resolution. He now
focuses on mediating disputes in trust law and family conflicts.
His expertise led to his book, “Notes on Estate and Financial Planning, Meyer on Case
Studies 2026,” now in its 14th edition and widely used in South African universities. A
new twelve-week course based on this book started at the University of the Free State
on 1 August 2025, attracting interest from many professionals.
Errol has also released a new book, “Notes on Business Financial Planning 2024,” and
runs short courses on the subject.
He consults with clients and works as a ‘financial project manager’, handling all aspects
of estate planning, investments, business succession, and financial planning.
He is often invited to speak at different events. These include professional bodies in
finance, corporate gatherings, farmers’ functions, and business events.
Errol is married to Antoinette and is a proud father of five daughters.
Visit Errol’s website at https://www.errolmeyer.co.za