The Master of the High Court publishes sixteen forms plus two guidance documents for the Guardian’s Fund alone. Using the wrong one is the most common reason a claim stalls before anyone has looked at it.
If you are not sure whether the Guardian’s Fund is where your money is at all, start with our guide to unclaimed money in South Africa and come back here once you have confirmed it.
What the Guardian’s Fund holds
The Guardian’s Fund is administered by the Master of the High Court and holds money on behalf of people who cannot legally manage it themselves or who cannot be found. That includes minors who inherit from a deceased estate, unborn heirs, people who lack legal capacity, untraced or undetermined beneficiaries, and creditors in insolvent estates who were never located.
Each Master’s office runs its own Guardian’s Fund. There are sixteen offices across the country plus a national office in Pretoria, and your claim goes to the office that holds your account, not to the one nearest you.
The Master has no power to appoint a guardian. Only the High Court can appoint someone other than a natural guardian as the legal guardian of a minor. The Master administers the money, nothing more.
Every Guardian’s Fund form, and who it is for
| Form | Purpose | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| J251 | Application for monies from the Guardian’s Fund | Account holders claiming capital |
| J251A | Foreign application for monies | Claimants being paid outside South Africa |
| J341 | Application for allowance or interest | Guardians, tutors and curators claiming maintenance |
| J341A | Foreign application for allowance or interest | Maintenance claims paid outside South Africa |
| Application for allowance or interest (person under disability) | Maintenance or interest for someone lacking capacity | Curators and carers |
| Application by executor or representative | Release of monies to an estate | Executors |
| Application by liquidator or trustee | Release of monies in an insolvency | Liquidators and trustees |
| Application for refund of unclaimed monies by a creditor | Recovery of an insolvency dividend | Creditors in insolvent estates |
| Ceftu 3 | Bank and personal details | Everyone, submitted with the main form |
| Guardian’s Fund affidavit | Supporting sworn statement | Most claimants |
| Indemnity | Standard indemnity | As required by the Master |
| Assistance to purchase a motor vehicle | Release of funds for a vehicle | Guardians and curators motivating a specific purchase |
| Affidavit: payment not received (cheque) | Reporting a payment that never arrived | Claimants already approved |
| Affidavit: payment not received (EFT) | Reporting a failed transfer | Claimants already approved |
| Payment to a natural guardian for investment | Release of a minor’s money to a parent to invest on the child’s behalf | Natural guardians |
| Nature of assistance required, and how arrived at | Motivation supporting an allowance or assistance claim | Guardians and curators |
The Master also publishes two guidance documents, one setting out the requirements for maintenance and allowance applications and one for applications for monies, both worth reading before you fill anything in.
Which form applies to your situation
You inherited as a minor and have now turned 18. Use the J251. You claim the invested capital together with all accrued interest. The same applies if you married before turning 18 or the High Court declared you of majority age. Attach:
- Verification of your fingerprints
- A certified copy of your identity document or passport
- Your marriage certificate or court order, if either applies
- Your banking details
You are a guardian, tutor or curator and the minor needs money now: Use the J341, supported by quotations and accounts. This is a maintenance or allowance claim, not a release of the whole inheritance. Costs that qualify include school and university fees, clothing, outdoor activities and medical expenses. To protect the child, the Master can pay the school, university or supplier directly rather than paying you.
You are a beneficiary who was never traced. Use the J251, supported by a certified copy of the account holder’s identity document or passport and verification of your fingerprints. This is the route for someone who only discovers years later that an estate left them something.
You hold a usufruct or fideicommissum: The person entitled to the interest claims it monthly by written application on the J341, setting out full particulars of the instrument that created the interest. The owner claims the invested capital when entitled to it, usually after the death of the usufructuary, on the J251, supported by a certified death certificate, the beneficiary’s identity document, banking details and fingerprint verification.
You are claiming for someone who lacks legal capacity: There is a separate application for allowance or interest for a person under disability. Do not use the standard J341.
You are an executor, liquidator, trustee or creditor: Each has its own dedicated application. Using the J251 in these cases is one of the most common filing errors.
The fingerprint requirement
Almost every capital claim requires verification of the applicant’s fingerprints.
You do not have to travel to the office holding your account to do this. Fingerprint verification can be done at any Master’s office and at various Magistrates’ Courts, which matters if your account sits in Pretoria and you live in Mthatha.
How much maintenance can be released
Where a guardian, tutor or curator claims maintenance for a minor, the Master may release all accrued interest plus up to R250 000 of the invested capital, provided the claim is motivated with quotations and accounts.
How long you have to claim
Interest stops at five years: The Master pays interest from one month after receiving the money until five years after it becomes claimable. After that the balance sits there earning nothing at all.
Forfeiture at thirty years: Money that stays unclaimed for thirty years from the date you became entitled to it is forfeited to the state.
Between those two points there is a twenty five year window where your money is neither growing nor being returned. That is the strongest argument for claiming as soon as you know the account exists.
Every September the Master advertises accounts that have become claimable, both in the Government Gazette and on the departmental website. Each account is advertised for the first three consecutive years after it becomes claimable, and then never again. The most recent lists appeared in Government Gazette 53401 of 26 September 2025 and Government Gazette 51284 of 27 September 2024.
That three year window matters, because the Guardian’s Fund does not trace you. Private retirement funds are obliged under the Pension Funds Act to trace their members. The Master’s duty under the Administration of Estates Act stops at publishing the notices. Once those three years pass, the onus sits entirely with you until forfeiture at thirty years.
Where to submit your claim
Your claim goes to the Master’s office administering the account. The sixteen offices are Bloemfontein, Bhisho, Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha, Johannesburg, Kimberley, Mahikeng, Makhanda, Mbombela, Middelburg, Mthatha, Pietermaritzburg, Polokwane, Pretoria and Thohoyandou, with a national office in Pretoria.
Only six of those offices publish a dedicated Guardian’s Fund line:
| Office | Guardian’s Fund line |
|---|---|
| Bloemfontein | 051 411 5507 or 051 411 5578 |
| Cape Town | 021 832 3014 |
| Makhanda (Grahamstown) | 046 603 4004 |
| Kimberley | 053 831 1942 |
| Pietermaritzburg | 033 264 7046 or 033 264 7027 |
| Pretoria | 012 339 7794 or 012 339 7729 |
For the other ten offices you go through the general switchboard and ask for the Guardian’s Fund section, which is slower and worth knowing before you spend a morning on hold.
The Pretoria office moved on 1 June 2026 to 351 Francis Baard Street, having previously been in the SALU Building.
Most Master’s offices close to the public at 13:00: Cape Town, Durban, Makhanda, Gqeberha, Polokwane, Pretoria and Thohoyandou all shut their public counters at or before 13:00, and Makhanda and Gqeberha take afternoon visitors only by appointment and only for urgent matters. Mahikeng assists after 14:00 only where the person has travelled from a far or remote area. Plan a morning visit.
If your claim stalls
There is a published escalation path, and using it in order matters:
- The Assistant Master
- The Deputy Master
- The Head of Office
- The Office of the Chief Master, only once the first three have been exhausted
Going straight to the Chief Master’s office generally results in the matter being referred back down, which costs you weeks.
What it costs to claim
The Master administers the Guardian’s Fund free of charge. There is no application fee and no administration charge to account holders. The only commission charged anywhere in the process is 5 percent on dividends paid into the fund by trustees and liquidators on behalf of missing creditors in insolvent estates, and that goes to the Receiver of Revenue rather than to the Master.
Payment is made by electronic transfer into the payee’s own bank account. Cheques are not posted.
The practice of searching registers of unclaimed money, locating the person entitled to it and then taking cession of their rights was declared unlawful by a direction of the Minister of Trade and Industry under the Harmful Business Practices Act 71 of 1988, published in Government Gazette 16193 of 27 January 1995. The Department cites it as Notice 69, and it is printed on the J251 form itself, so you can point to it if anyone approaches you with an offer. Any agreement in which you cede, set off or otherwise transfer your claim against the Guardian’s Fund is unlawful, and no court claim can be founded on such an agreement. Tracers are not permitted to collect payment on a beneficiary’s behalf, and payment must be made to the person reflected in the Master’s records.
If a company contacts you offering to recover Guardian’s Fund money in exchange for a share of it, you are entitled to decline and lodge the claim yourself.
If your payment was approved but never arrived
There are two dedicated affidavits for this, one for a payment that was issued by cheque and one for a payment that was made by electronic transfer. Use the correct one for how the payment was meant to reach you. Submitting a general enquiry letter instead simply restarts the queue.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the J251 and the J341? The J251 claims the invested capital, normally once you are entitled to the whole amount. The J341 claims maintenance or interest while the capital stays invested, and it is used by a guardian, tutor or curator on behalf of someone else.
Do I need fingerprints to claim from the Guardian’s Fund? Yes, for most capital claims. Verification can be done at any Master’s office or at various Magistrates’ Courts, not only at the office holding your account.
How much maintenance can be released for a minor? All accrued interest plus up to R250 000 of the invested capital, supported by quotations and accounts. Payments can be made directly to the school, university or supplier.
Does Guardian’s Fund money expire? Yes. Money unclaimed for thirty years from the date you became entitled to it is forfeited to the state. Interest stops accruing five years after the money becomes claimable.
Does it cost anything to claim? No. The Master administers the fund free of charge and pays by electronic transfer. Agreements ceding a Guardian’s Fund claim to a tracing company are unlawful.
How do I know if there is an account in my name? Accounts are advertised in the Government Gazette every September, for the first three consecutive years after becoming claimable and never again after that. The Department of Justice also publishes a standing list of unclaimed accounts.
