Clear rules for sensitive estate information

Policy index

Supplier information and statutory disclosures

Digital access is ordinarily activated after account creation and, for paid features, after payment confirmation. A feature may require identity or authority checks, additional information, third-party cooperation, professional review or separate acceptance. Professional and executor-related timelines are not binding unless confirmed in a separate written engagement.

Subscription, cancellation and refund policy

Plans and automatic renewal

Current paid plans are presented as monthly subscriptions unless checkout clearly states another interval. A paid plan renews automatically at the accepted billing interval until cancelled. There is no hidden minimum term for a month-to-month plan.

Required checkout information

Before payment, checkout must show the legal supplier, selected plan, total recurring amount, whether VAT and unavoidable charges are included, billing interval, first billing date, automatic-renewal mechanics, minimum duration if any, cancellation route and this refund policy. The customer must be able to review, correct or withdraw the order before submitting payment.

A separate unticked checkbox must authorise recurring charges. Where immediate digital access affects a statutory cooling-off position, checkout must request immediate activation and explain the consequence without purporting to waive a right that cannot lawfully be waived.

Payment provider

Production recurring payments are intended to be processed by PayFast. PayFast may collect card, bank or authentication information directly and may store a token or mandate reference. EstateFlow intends to receive only the transaction, mandate, status and limited payment information needed to administer the subscription, refund, reconcile and prevent fraud.

Price and plan changes

• We will give reasonable advance notice, ordinarily at least 30 days, before a material recurring-price increase.
• A downgrade normally takes effect at the next renewal date.
• An upgrade may take effect immediately only after the charge or pro-rata treatment is clearly shown.
• If payment fails, the provider or EstateFlow may retry, notify the customer and temporarily restrict paid features.

How to cancel

Use the account billing control when available, or email admin@estateflow.co.za from the registered account address with the subject “Cancel subscription”. Include the account email and plan name but never send card details or a password. We will confirm cancellation electronically.

For a month-to-month plan, cancellation normally prevents the next renewal and paid access continues until the end of the current paid period. No cancellation fee applies. Where law requires earlier termination or another remedy, the legal rule prevails.

Refunds

EstateFlow will provide a refund or appropriate price reduction where required by law and will ordinarily refund:

• a verified duplicate, incorrect or unauthorised charge;
• a charge collected after cancellation had become effective;
• an amount required by consumer law, electronic-transaction law, a payment rule, regulator or court;
• a reasonable amount where EstateFlow cannot remedy a material service-quality failure within a reasonable time; and
• an amount expressly promised in a written promotion.

Except where law requires otherwise, no pro-rata refund arises merely because a customer stops using the service, forgets to cancel, does not complete an estate profile or changes their mind after immediate digital service was supplied. Exceptional circumstances may still be considered.

Refund request process

1. Email admin@estateflow.co.za with the subject “Refund request”.
2. Provide the account email, transaction reference, date, amount and reason. Do not send complete card details.
3. We may request reasonable identity or authority verification.
4. We aim to acknowledge within two business days and decide within 10 business days, subject to investigation and provider information.
5. An approved refund is returned through the original payment route where reasonably possible.

Cancelling billing does not delete the account. Export important records and use the Privacy Notice process for closure or deletion.

Cookie and similar technologies policy

Cookies, browser storage, software libraries and security tokens allow EstateFlow to maintain a session, prevent abuse, save progress and remember choices. EstateFlow currently uses essential technologies and does not use advertising cookies.

Blocking necessary storage may prevent login, saved progress or secure checkout. Users can clear browser storage, but doing so may sign them out or reset local wizard progress. If non-essential analytics or marketing technology is introduced, it must not run before any required consent and the notice will provide equally accessible acceptance, rejection and management choices.

Legal, tax, financial, fiduciary and document disclaimer

EstateFlow is a preparation platform, not a substitute for a qualified professional who has considered the user’s complete circumstances.

Estimates and assumptions

Estate-duty, CGT, liquidity, executor-fee, distribution and readiness results are estimates based on user inputs, configured assumptions and rules available at the calculation date. Outcomes may differ because of valuations, exemptions, deductions, marital regime, ownership, debt, tax status, policy wording, trusts, foreign assets, later events, legal changes, official discretion, disputes and professional costs.

No regulated recommendation

EstateFlow does not recommend buying, selling, replacing, surrendering, retaining or changing a financial product. General information and calculations are not personal regulated financial advice.

Documents and wills

Generated wording, reports, checklists and worksheets are not legal opinions, tax returns or court filings unless a separately appointed qualified professional reviews and adopts them. A will worksheet is not valid merely because it was downloaded. Users should obtain independent review, comply with execution formalities and preserve the signed original.

Scores, reviews and regulated assets

A readiness score is a prioritisation aid, not a certification. “Review requested” or “reviewed” means only what the reviewing professional records. Capturing information about a firearm or other regulated asset does not authorise possession, storage, transfer or inheritance.

AI and automated tools notice

Optional AI-enabled features may summarise selected information, identify possible gaps, classify documents or suggest questions and explanatory wording. They generate probabilistic results and can make confident mistakes.

• AI output must be labelled and separated from verified professional advice.
• Do not rely on it alone to sign a will, change beneficiaries, select a financial product, calculate a tax return, nominate an executor or transfer a regulated asset.
• The interface must explain what selected data is sent for analysis and minimise identifiers by default.
• Full vault documents should be excluded unless a function requires them and the user knowingly starts the analysis.
• External providers must be assessed for retention, training, security and cross-border safeguards.
• A material AI concern may be referred for human review through admin@estateflow.co.za.

EstateFlow does not intend to make a solely automated decision with legal or similarly significant effects unless POPIA permits it and meaningful safeguards and a representation process are available.

Executor nomination and subscription-benefit terms

Identity of the nominee

Before a user can nominate “EstateFlow”, the platform and proposed will wording must identify the exact natural or juristic person intended to act, including its legal name and capacity. A trading name alone must not create uncertainty. That legal person has not yet been confirmed for production use.

No advance acceptance or guarantee

Selecting the option, generating wording or receiving a subscription benefit does not mean that the nominee accepted, undertook to act or was appointed. Capacity, conflicts, security, fees, professional assistance and availability are assessed after death or under a separate engagement. The Master retains the appointment role.

Separate post-death engagement

If the nominee is willing, eligible and authorised, a separate engagement will address scope, fee, VAT, professional-agent costs, disbursements, security, information requirements, conflicts, complaints and termination. A software subscription is not that engagement.

Subscription benefit

• Any advertised discount applies only to eligible paid plans while a verified current nomination remains in favour of the identified nominee.
• It is prospective, not cash and does not reduce amounts already billed.
• If the nomination is changed or revoked, ordinary pricing may apply from the next billing cycle after notice.
• The benefit may end if the nominee stops offering the service or law prevents the arrangement. Affected users may cancel before changed pricing applies.

Fee illustrations

Any percentage or rand saving is an estimate. The final executor remuneration may depend on the will, lawful agreement, statutory tariff, VAT, asset and post-death income composition, work required, professional-agent charges, disbursements and the Master’s powers. Marketing must disclose material assumptions and may not promise a guaranteed saving.

Users remain free to nominate, replace or remove an executor and should consider suitability, independence, continuity, cost, security and an alternate nominee.

Professional data-processing terms

A professional organisation that uploads or manages client information must accept a separate Data Processing Addendum (“DPA”). The professional ordinarily determines the purpose and means of its client processing and remains responsible for lawful collection, notices, mandates, client rights, professional duties, retention and instructions. EstateFlow acts as operator for those client records while remaining responsible for its own account, billing, support, security and legal records.

The DPA must cover:

• documented instructions, confidentiality and least-privilege access;
• security safeguards appropriate to estate, financial, child and vault information;
• approved sub-operators and cross-border transfer safeguards;
• incident notification and assistance with data-subject or regulator requests;
• client export, return, deletion and protected backup expiry after termination;
• reasonable compliance evidence and proportionate audit rights; and
• the professional’s responsibility for authority, notices, minimisation, permissions and staff offboarding.

The organisation’s legal details, enabled features, data categories, retention instructions and provider register must be completed before the DPA becomes a production contract.

Security and responsible disclosure

EstateFlow uses layered account, access, cloud, document and monitoring controls, but no service can guarantee complete security. Users must protect credentials, devices, recovery methods and independent copies of critical documents.

Report a vulnerability

Email admin@estateflow.co.za with the subject “Security vulnerability”. Include the affected URL or function, safe reproduction steps, potential impact and non-sensitive evidence. Ask for a secure transfer route before sending highly sensitive evidence.

Safe research conditions

• Test only accounts and data you own or have explicit permission to use.
• Do not access, change, download, retain or disclose another person’s information.
• Do not use denial-of-service, social engineering, physical attacks, credential stuffing, spam or destructive testing.
• Stop and report immediately if personal information or production secrets become accessible.
• Allow a reasonable remediation period and coordinate public disclosure timing.

We aim to acknowledge credible reports, assess severity, communicate reasonable progress and address verified issues according to risk. No reward is promised unless a written bounty programme says otherwise.

Complaints and dispute-resolution procedure

Email admin@estateflow.co.za with the subject “Complaint”. Include your name, account email, a concise chronology, relevant references and the result you seek. Do not send passwords, full payment-card details or unnecessary identity documents.

1. We aim to acknowledge a complaint within two business days.
2. Where reasonably possible, it is assigned to someone not directly implicated.
3. We may ask focused questions or request safe supporting evidence.
4. We aim to provide a written outcome within 15 business days. Complex legal, security, payment or third-party matters may take longer and should receive progress updates.
5. The outcome will explain the decision, remedy and any available escalation.

Mark a complaint urgent if it concerns active account compromise, suspected personal-information exposure, a payment scheduled after cancellation, imminent critical-data loss or risk of unlawful disclosure.

Privacy matters may be taken to the Information Regulator; consumer matters to the National Consumer Commission or competent ombud, tribunal or court; and payment disputes to PayFast or the customer’s bank. Complaints about independent professional advice should ordinarily be directed to that professional or professional body. EstateFlow can preserve and provide lawful platform records but does not decide independent professional negligence.

Access to information and PAIA

This section explains how a person may request a record needed to exercise or protect a right under the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (“PAIA”). It is a public access guide while EstateFlow’s formal section 51 manual is completed with the registered entity, head, Information Officer, statutory annexures and fee information.

Records that may be held

• supplier, company, governance, accounting and tax records where applicable;
• customer contracts, subscription, payment, support and complaint records;
• privacy, security, incident, operator and data-subject request records;
• employment, contractor and supplier records where applicable;
• product, software, intellectual-property and operational documentation; and
• estate or professional client records, subject to privacy, confidentiality, privilege and authority restrictions.

How to request a record

1. Use the current prescribed PAIA form for a private-body record.
2. Identify the requested record, the right to be exercised or protected and why the record is required.
3. Provide proportionate proof of identity and authority. A representative must provide proof of mandate.
4. Email the request to admin@estateflow.co.za or deliver it to the published physical service address.
5. Pay a prescribed request, search, reproduction or access fee only after receiving a lawful notice, unless an exemption applies.

A complete request will be decided within the period prescribed by PAIA, subject to a lawful extension. Access may be refused where PAIA requires or permits, including protection of privacy, confidential commercial information, legal privilege, safety, research, law-enforcement interests or a duty of confidence. Any mandatory public-interest override will be considered.

A dissatisfied requester may use the Information Regulator complaint or court procedures available under PAIA. The current official guide, forms and fees are available through the Information Regulator’s PAIA service.

Official South African reference sources

These links support customer verification and professional review. EstateFlow policies must be updated when the law, platform, prices, providers or executor structure materially change.

• Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008
• Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000
• Information Regulator: POPIA and Information Officers
• Information Regulator PAIA Manuals service
• Master of the High Court: wills and executor nominations
• Master of the High Court: deceased-estate FAQ
• Wills Act 7 of 1953
• Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965
• PayFast merchant information