How to Check the Official Guardian’s Fund List for Your Name

If a parent or relative passed away, you may be owed money from the Guardian’s Fund. The list of who is owed money is published once a year, every September, by the Department of Justice in the Government Gazette and on the justice.gov.za website.

The catch: each account is only published for the first 3 years after it becomes claimable. After that, the name disappears from the public list. The money stays in the fund, but you won’t find it without knowing to look. The check is free.

The list is published annually by the Department of Justice and is available on the official government website at justice.gov.za. No third-party search tool can find this information for you — only the official list.

Every September, the Department of Justice publishes the official list of Guardian’s Fund beneficiaries. The list contains the names of people who are owed money but haven’t claimed it yet.

The list is alphabetical by surname. It’s published in two places:

• The Government Gazette (the official government publication)
• The Department of Justice website (justice.gov.za) under the Guardian’s Fund section

Each account appears in the list for the first 3 years after it becomes claimable. After that, the name disappears from the public list entirely. The money stays in the fund, but without knowing to look, you won’t find it.

Here’s how to make sure you don’t miss anything that might belong to you or your family:

• Your own surname — if you have a common name, check the entire list
• Your parents’ surnames — especially if different from yours (e.g., mother’s maiden name)
• Your grandparents’ surnames — the account could be from an estate settled before you were born
• Your spouse’s surname — especially if recently widowed
• Any deceased relative — aunts, uncles, siblings who may have died without heirs

The list contains both current year’s additions and the previous 2 years that have not yet been claimed. After 3 years, names are removed from the public list.

If you find a name that matches you or a family member, follow the claim process:

• Contact the Master’s Office for the region where the deceased lived
• Submit form J251 (claim form)
• Provide certified copy of your SA ID
• Submit fingerprints for verification (done at any Master’s Office or Magistrate Court)
• Receive payment via EFT once verified

The 6 Master’s Offices in South Africa are:

• Cape Town (Western Cape)
• Pretoria (Gauteng, North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga)
• Bloemfontein (Free State)
• Kimberley (Northern Cape)
• Pietermaritzburg (KwaZulu-Natal)
• Grahamstown (Eastern Cape)

You can also lodge claims at MOVIT offices in other locations.

If a name doesn’t appear on the current list, it could mean several things:

• The account was already claimed by someone else (you can verify with the Master’s Office)
• The 3-year publication window has passed (you’d need to check archival Government Gazette records)
• The account belongs to a different person with a similar name
• The deceased lived in a different region than you searched

For accounts beyond the 3-year publication window, you can still verify directly with the Master’s Office. The money stays in the fund until claimed or until 30 years pass.

South African law prohibits anyone from charging a fee to help you claim from the Guardian’s Fund. The Master issues cheques only in the name of the verified beneficiary.

Protect yourself:

• Only contact the Master’s Office directly via official government channels
• Never pay any upfront fee to “release” or “find” your inheritance
• Never share banking details with someone who contacted you first
• Verify any claim by calling the government office directly using the official number

This content is for informational purposes only. We are not affiliated with the Department of Justice or any government entity. We do not collect your ID number on this page.