In short: in Schoonhoven NO v Schoonhoven [2025] ZASCA 178; 2026 (4) SA 140 (SCA), decided on 28 November 2025, the Supreme Court of Appeal held that a founder who reserved the right to direct the trust's final distribution in his will had validly done so. His trustees were bound by his will and had no discretion left. For founders, the lesson is simple: your trust deed and your will must be written to work together.
What the Supreme Court of Appeal decided
In 2006 Johannes Schoonhoven set up the Schoonies Family Trust, a discretionary family trust. Clause 27 of the deed gave him a personal right to prescribe, by will, how the trust fund would be split among the capital beneficiaries. The deed said those testamentary prescriptions "shall be binding".
He used that right. His 2010 will fixed the vesting date at 15 years after his death and directed that "the Capital Beneficiaries will receive the net proceeds of the Trust in equal shares". He died in 2015.
The four trustees, three of them his sons, asked the court to confirm that they could still choose which capital beneficiaries would take. The High Court refused, and the SCA dismissed their appeal: • The founder's right was wide, and nothing limited how many beneficiaries he could designate (paras 20–21). • "The capital beneficiaries" in the will meant all of them, including grandchildren and family trusts and companies (para 29). • Equal shares may come out unequal, since families differ in size. That was the founder's choice to make (paras 27–28). • The designation is binding, so the trustees had no discretion left to exercise (para 30).
Why the trustees lost
The trustees argued that reading the will to include every listed beneficiary would be absurd. Some classes, such as family trusts and companies, might not exist on the vesting date. And equal shares would be skewed, because the sons' families differ in size (paras 14–15).
The SCA was not persuaded. The deed gave the founder a wide right, he used it in clear words, and the deed said his prescriptions were binding. Whether the outcome was fair between the branches of the family was "not a matter for this Court" (para 28). Once the founder designated the beneficiaries, the trustees' discretion fell away (para 30).
What this means for your family trust
A trust deed and a will are often drafted years apart, by different people. Schoonhoven shows what happens when they meet: the court reads the words as they stand and gives effect to them, even where the family expected something else.
That cuts both ways. A founder who wants the final say can keep it, if the deed reserves it clearly and the will uses it clearly. A founder who wants the trustees to decide must make sure no will or deed clause takes that decision away from them.
Five things to check in your trust deed and will
1. Does your deed reserve a right for you to direct the trust by will? Know whether yours does, and what it covers. 2. Does your will actually use that right? If it does, it binds your trustees. If it does not, the trustees' discretion applies. 3. Are the words precise? "The capital beneficiaries" was read to mean all of them, including trusts and companies. Name the people or classes you mean. 4. Have you thought through "equal shares"? Equal shares across beneficiaries can mean very unequal shares between family branches. 5. Have you reviewed both since your family changed? Marriages, divorces, births and deaths all change who falls within a class.
Get your deed and will working together
Lawvero reviews trust deeds and prepares deed amendments, trustee resolutions and wills that line up with your trust, at fixed fees with no hourly-rate surprises. Email office@lawvero.co.za or WhatsApp 065 764 3430 for a quote.
Sources
• [Schoonhoven NO and Others v Schoonhoven and Others (791/2024) [2025] ZASCA 178; 2026 (4) SA 140 (SCA)](https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2025/178.html), Supreme Court of Appeal, 28 November 2025
This article summarises a court judgment as at 26 October 2026 and is general information only, not legal advice. Lawvero provides document preparation services and does not provide legal advice.