DOWWE DOLLA SURPRISES GUESTS AT SEMINAR

More than 100 of Durbanville’s top business people attended a trust seminar on Friday, 31 May 2013. To everyone’s surprise not only were the well-known Prof. Walter Geach there, but also the famous Dowwe Dolla. She admitted that she always wanted to party with a group of attorneys and accountants. Dolla said she immediately knew she was at the right place when she saw how the guests were dressed: “You can determine whether an attorney or accountant is trustworthy by looking at his clothes. He must be dressed in grey from head to toe”.

MHI director, Jurgens Tubb, says that while MHI’s dress does not correspond fully with Dolla’s yardstick for trustworthiness, it was exciting to have her as a guest at the formal trust seminar. The occasion was presented by MHI Attorneys and C2M Chartered Accountants. It was the third time that MHI and C2M had invited Prof. Geach to be the speaker.

Prof. Geach is a chartered accountant as well as an advocate of the South African High Court, and therefore a valuable source of knowledge about intricate matters such as the management of a trust. New legislation has caused trustees to flounder when dealing with issues such as buying a property in a trust. The seminar shed light in particular on the implications of legislation that might be amended in future and the effect on the management of a trust. Although a trust is a wonderful expedient for protecting assets and for doing effective financial planning, this holds many dangers. Prof. Geach stressed that people sometimes make the mistake of regarding the assets that they put into a trust as their own and then use the return on assets for personal gain. This is very dangerous and it is important for trustees to make sure of the risks if they wish to prevent the trust being declared void by the court.