Submission and publication dates differ
A notice destined for the Government Gazette must be submitted before the day on which it is intended to be published. Executors, attorneys and estate administrators should therefore budget time for filling in the right electronic form, organising payment and clearing up any information still outstanding before the submission deadline passes. The two dates are not the same. The submission deadline is the cut-off by which the finished documents and the payment needed for a booking must be provided, while the publication date is the day on which the notice is due to run. A form sent on a Friday cannot be assumed to make that same Friday's Gazette.
Confirm the deadline first
Gazette estate notices generally run on a weekly cycle, with Friday publication. Both submission deadlines and publication dates may be affected by public holidays and year-end arrangements, so the deadline for the specific issue you want should be checked. Around a public holiday the deadline may fall earlier, and the schedule from a prior month is not a safe guide for a new booking. Legal Notice Publishing's own deadline for clients also builds in time to check documents and process the booking ahead of the Gazette's own cut-off. When asking for a quote, state the publication date you need. The firm will then advise on the deadline and on whether that date is still available.
What to have ready
Six items should be sent to avoid delay. First, a live electronic J193 or J187 form, filled in correctly. Second, your requested publication date. Third, clear instructions on whether you want Gazette and newspaper publication or only one of them. Fourth, your invoicing details. Fifth, proof of payment in line with your quotation and booking instructions. Sixth, the name, email address and telephone number of a contact person. Asking for a quote is only a starting point. The form, the payment and the booking requirements still have to be finalised.
Completing the electronic form
The Gazette's forms have interactive fields. Choose the correct publication date from the form's dropdown menu and complete the relevant province. Send the original completed electronic PDF. Interactive features that processing relies on can be lost if the form is printed, scanned or recreated. Anyone uncertain about the right form, or about completing a particular field, should contact Legal Notice Publishing prior to submission.
If the booking moves
A submission that is late or incomplete may be shifted to the next available publication date, and that can affect the estate's administration timetable. Where that happens, the date shown on the electronic form also has to be reviewed and corrected. A form showing an earlier date should not be assumed usable unchanged. Forms, quotations and deadlines for an intended publication date can be requested by email to [email protected].
Read the full article: Government Gazette estate notices: submission deadlines and publication dates on LegalNotice.co.za.
