Deceased Estate Attorney

A well-established organisation is seeking a commercially minded Deceased Estates Attorney Claims & Recoveries to lead a high-volume claims portfolio and drive the recovery of outstanding debt from deceased estates.
This is a specialised legal and operational leadership role requiring an admitted attorney with practical deceased estates claims and recoveries experience, strong collections expertise, proven people management capabilities and a results-driven approach.

Minimum Requirements

• LLB degree and admission as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.
• Practical experience in deceased estates claims, creditor claims, deceased debtor recoveries or legal collections.
• Strong understanding of deceased estates procedures, the Administration of Estates Act, executors, the Master of the High Court and liquidation and distribution accounts.
• Proven experience managing a high-volume collections, recoveries or legal claims portfolio.
• Minimum 35 years' direct team management experience within collections, recoveries or a target-driven operational environment.
• Demonstrated experience managing KPIs, coaching staff, addressing underperformance and driving team performance.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills, including PivotTables, advanced formulas and VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, with the ability to analyse portfolio data and generate performance reports.
• A proven track record of improving recovery rates, productivity, turnaround times or collections performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the deceased estates claims and recoveries team, ensuring individual and team targets are consistently achieved.
• Manage the end-to-end claims lifecycle, from identifying and lodging creditor claims through to payment, settlement or finalisation.
• Oversee a high-volume portfolio, prioritising claims according to outstanding balances, ageing, recovery prospects and urgency.
• Monitor KPIs, recovery rates, outstanding balances, team productivity and turnaround times using portfolio analytics and Excel reporting.
• Investigate delayed, rejected, disputed or unpaid claims and implement appropriate recovery strategies and legal escalations.
• Liaise with executors, estate administrators, external attorneys and relevant stakeholders to resolve obstacles preventing recovery.
• Establish effective follow-up procedures, allocate workloads, address performance gaps and implement process improvements to maximise collections results.
• Ensure compliance with relevant legislation, legal procedures and internal policies.

Consultant: Chante Pienaar - Dante Personnel Pretoria Faerie Glen