As a point of departure, the Master will not accept a will as valid unless it complies with the formality requirements according to Section 2(1) of the Wills Act.[ However, the Master does not have the final say herein if the court is involved.

Upon application by an interested person, the will can be submitted to the High Court for an order declaring that the document was intended to be the deceased’s will. If the court is satisfied, according to section 2(3) of the Act, it shall order the Master to accept the document as a will although it does not comply with the necessary requirements. Therefore, the question of whether a suicide note will qualify as a will, will depend on the court’s interpretation of whether a suicide was intended to be a will.  

Regarding interpretation, in a Supreme Court of Appeal judgement of Natal Joint Municipal Pension Fund v Endumeni Municipality the court made the following statement regarding interpretation: “Whatever the nature of the document, consideration must be given to the language used in the light of the ordinary rules of grammar and syntax; the context in which the provision appears; the apparent purpose to which it is directed and the material known to those responsible for its production. Where more than one meaning is possible each possibility must be weighed in the light of all these factors. The process is objective not subjective. A sensible meaning is to be preferred to one that leads to insensible or unbusinesslike results or undermines the apparent purpose of the document.” Accordingly, this case sets the precedent for the principle that rules of interpretation are not document-specific but are of a general nature and open to adaption as far as the context may require.

Unfortunately, there is no way to determine from face value if the court will instruct the Master to accept a suicide note as a valid will as this is clearly decided ad hoc on the specific interpretation of that document. The only thing that remains certain is that the document must attempt to make some sort of disposition of assets/benefits to nominated beneficiaries.