susandra van wyk
DR Susandra Van Wyk
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Attorney, Notary, Conveyancer, Researcher and Lecturer

Susandra van Wyk is an attorney, notary, conveyancer, researcher, and lecturer. She has extensive knowledge in a variety of legal areas including ancient legal texts, deceased estate administrations, drafting of wills, South African succession law, antenuptial contracts, and trusts. With a strong commitment to providing exceptional client service, Susandra is a determined individual who takes pride in her ability to solve complex problems and implement innovative strategies. Through her training, research, education, and professional experience, she has gained a wealth of expertise and is always eager to provide fresh ideas and new perspectives.
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About Susandra
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Strives to deliver practical and effective solutions

Susandra is dedicated to staying up to date with the latest legal developments and strives to deliver practical and effective solutions for her clients. Her professionalism, attention to detail, and excellent communication skills make her a trusted advisor to clients across a wide range of industries.
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  • Doctoral in Literature and Philosophy (D Litt et Phil): Near Eastern Studies, University of South Africa, 2013. Thesis: Division (Redistribution) Agreements in Deceased Estates in Old Babylonian Nippur, Sippar and Larsa.
  • Master of Arts, Ancient Near Eastern Studies (obtained with distinction) University of South Africa, 2007 - Thesis: The Position of Mesopotamian Law Collections and Inscriptions in Ancient Near Eastern Law
  • BA Hons: Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (obtained with distinction), University of South Africa, 2006.
  • Magister Legum (LL.M), Master’s degree in Estate Law and Estate Planning, North-West University, 2003 - Thesis: Redistribution Agreements (Division Agreements) in the Administration of Deceased Estates. Supervisor: Professor I Vorster
  • Baccalaureus Legum (LL.B Law), University of South Africa, 1998
  • Baccalaureus Iuris (B.Iuris Law), University of Free State, 1994
  • Advanced Diploma in Insolvency, Institute of Insolvency Practitioners of Southern Africa, 1999
  • Senior Certificate / Matric [Exemption], Kroonstad High School, 1988
DROPDOWN LINE
  • Fiduciary Specialist since 1991 for 32 years in Succession Law, Drafting of Wills, Estate Law, Estate Administration and Estate Planning
  • Attorney of the High Court of South Africa for 16 years
  • Notary of the High Court of South Africa for 15 years
  • Conveyancer for 6 years
  • Estate Examiner and Acting Assistant Master at Bloemfontein Masters’ Office for 8 years.
  • Business Owner for 22 years
  • Management of Staff for 22 years
  • Advice and Training at the Master of the High Court and to attorneys in Estate Administration and other Fiduciary Services for 32 years
  • Peer Reviewer of Academic Publications for 12 years
  • Researcher for 13 years
  • Lecturer for 3 years
  • Postdoctoral Fellow for 3 years
  • Editorial Assistant for Accredited Academic Journals for 2 years
  • Co-Editor for an Accredited Academic Journal for 4 years
  • External Examiner Dissertations and Theses for 8 years at the University of South Africa
  • External Examiner for Deceased Estate Administration LLB module at North-West University for 3 years
DROPDOWN LINE
  • Conveyancer of the High Court of South Africa, 2017
  • Notary of the High Court of South Africa, 2008
  • Attorney of the High Court of South Africa, 2007
  • Certificate of Proficiency (COP), Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) in Life Marketing, 1999
  • South African Regulatory Examinations RE 1 and RE 5: Life Assurance Broker and Compliance Officer
DROPDOWN LINE
  • Law Society of South Africa
  • Fiduciary Institute of South Africa (FISA)

Career Summary

2008 - Current

Own Practice: Attorney (2008), Notary (2007) and Conveyancer (2017)

  • Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Wills, Antenuptial Contracts and Trusts
  • Writing of Estate Practice Manuals

2019 - Current

Owner and Estate Specialist:
WrapUp (Pty) Ltd [previously Deceased Estates Selfhelp Programme (Pty) Ltd]

  • Assisting Executors in administering a deceased estate by means of specialised assistance with issues encountered during the deceased estate administration process.
  • Developing legal software to address common challenges in deceased estate administration and the drafting of Wills.

2019 - Current

Owner and Compiler: Deceased Estates Selfhelp Toolkit (Pty) Ltd

These guides are practical toolkits that provide essential practical information and example letters and forms to assist an estate administrator in administering an estate from start to finish.

SIX STAGES
Six-Stages Deceased Estates Selfhelp Toolkit: This easy-to-understand guide consists of six practical stages and provides guidance for winding up a Section 18(3) estate when a master's representative is appointed.
TWELVE STAGES (1)
Twelve-Stages Deceased Estates Selfhelp Toolkit: This guide consists of 12 practical stages and explains the basic practice of deceased estate administration when an executor is appointed. Court.

2018 - 2026

Extraordinary Researcher: North-West University

  • Researching Ancient Legal Texts and publishing Academic Articles in Accredited Academic Journals
  • Presenting Papers at National and International Academic Conferences

2015 - 2021

External Examiner: University of South Africa

  • Examination of Master Dissertations and Doctoral Theses

2021 - 2023

External moderator: North-West University

  • External moderator for IURE 425 Deceased Estate Administration

July - Dec 2021

Senior Lecturer: University of South Africa (UNISA)

  • Supervises/Promotes Master’s and Doctoral Students
  • Acts as a Module Leader/Course Coordinator
  • Teaching, Sets and the Marking of Assignments and Examination Scripts of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students
  • Develops Curricula and Compiles Tutorial Material for Undergraduate & Postgraduate Courses/Modules
  • Prepares and Conducts Presentations for Discussion Classes, Group Visits and Lecturers
  • Ensures that Deadlines are met in the Department
  • Critical Reading and Proof-Reading of Tutorial Letters and Research Articles
  • Participates/Serves as Leader of a Project Team to Conduct Research
  • Publishing of Academic Articles in Accredited Journals and Presenting Papers at National and International Academic Conferences

Jul 2015 - Dec 2015

Lecturer: History of South African Law: North-West University

  • Independently Drafting of Assignments, Tests and Examination Scripts, Compiling and Presenting PowerPoint Lectures to First- and Second-Year Law Students

April 2014 - April 2016

Postdoctoral Fellow: North-West University

  • Researching Ancient Legal Texts and Publishing Academic Articles in Accredited Academic Journals
  • Presenting Papers at National and International Academic Conferences

Apr 2012 - Mar 2014

Research Assistant and Lecturer: University of South Africa

  • Teaching, Marking Assignments and Examination Scripts for Different Modules including the following: OTS2602, OTS3703, OTS3705, ATC2601, ATC2602, ATC3701, ATC3702, ATC3703
  • Critical reading and Proof-Reading of Tutorial Letters and Research Articles
  • Publishing of Academic Articles in Accredited Journals and Presenting Papers at National and International Academic Conferences
  • Drafting of the Department’s Study Guide for Masters’ and Doctoral Students’ regarding Research Methodology and Research Skills

Feb 2012 - Mar 2012

Lecturer: University of the Free State

  • Independently Plan the Framework of the Preparation, Compilation and Writing of Modules
  • Independently Choose Suitable Study Material for Students
  • Independently Draft and Compile the Modules’ Study Programmes and Study Letters
  • Presentation of the Modules by means of PowerPoint Lectures
  • Marking and Assessment of Students’ Assignments
  • Teaching of First- and Second Year Students of the Faculty of Humanities

2012 - 1991

Early Career

  • Jul 2006 - Feb 2012: Financial Insurance Legal Advisor and Life Assurance Broker in liaison with Own Attorney Firm’s Estate Planning and Administration division
  • Oct 2007 - Aug 2008: Attorney and Notary: Podbielski Mhlambi Inc. Attorneys, Welkom
  • Dec 2000 - Sept 2007: Fiduciary Specialist (Estate Planning) Own Business: Novitas Service Trust; Consultancy-based Estate Administration and Planning
  • Nov 1999 - Nov 2000: Candidate Attorney: Neuhoff & van Deventer, Bloemfontein
  • Aug 1991 - Aug 1999: Estate Examiner and Acting Assistant Master of the High Court, Bloemfontein
About Susandra
ABOUT SUSANDRA LINE 2

Academia: Publications, Presentations and Awards

Contact
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  • Co-Editor for the accredited “Fundamina - A Journal of Legal History”, 2016-2019
  • Editorial Assistant for the accredited “Religion and Theology” Journal, 2014-2015
  • Editorial Assistant for the accredited “Journal of Early Christian History”, 2014-2015
  • Peer Reviewer for the accredited “Journal for Semitics” 2012-2023
  • Peer Reviewer for the accredited “Fundamina - A Journal of Legal History”, 2019-2021
  • Peer Reviewer for the accredited “Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal”, 2021-2022
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Seventeen Accredited Journal Contributions

2022 - Debunking the Master of the High Court's Assumed Approval Authority Over a Redistribution Agreement in a Deceased Estate. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal

2019 - “Towards a Typology of Old Babylonian Adoption Recordings” Journal for Semitics 28/1:1-24

2019 - “Keeping Home and Hearth Together”: A Scribe’s Adaptation of Adoption and Inheritance Division Templates from Old Babylonian Nippur Scribal Schools.” Journal for Semitics 28/1:1-34

2018 - “The phrase ‘should a claimant raise a claim, he will pay...’ in the division of an inheritance from Old Babylonian Tell Harmal.” Fundamina 24/1:170-197

2018 - “Inheritance feuds in the U-Pabilsag Archive from Old Babylonian Nippur.” Journal for Semitics 27:1-27

2018 - “Revisiting the division of ownership in the Book of Joshua and Old Babylonia.” Journal for Semitics 27:1-21.

2016 - “Regulation of the female sābītu’s business ventures: does a unified corpus exists in LH §108-111?” Archiv Orientální: Journal of African and Asian Studies 84:51-73.

2016 - “The survival fitness of memes in the inheritance divisions from Old Babylonia Sippar.” Journal for Semitics 25/1:318-346.

2015 - “Prostitute, Nun or ‘Man-Woman’: Revisiting the Position of the Old Babylonian Nadiātu-Priestesses.” Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 41/2:95-122.

2015 - “The concealed crime of the nadītu priestess in §110 of the Laws of Hammurabi.” Journal for Semitics 24/1:109-145.

2014 - “Lost in translation: present-day terms in the maintenance texts of the nadiātu from Old Babylonian Nippur.” Journal for Semitics 23/2:443-483.

2014 - “Contractual maintenance support of a priestess-sister in three Old Babylonian Sippar division agreements.” Journal for Semitics 23/1:195-236.

2013 - “Old Babylonian family division agreement from a deceased estate – analysis of its practical and theoretical mechanisms.” Fundamina: Journal of Legal History 19/1:146-171.

2013 - “Content analysis: a new approach in the study of the Old Babylonian family division agreement in a deceased estate.” Fundamina: Journal of Legal History 19/2:413-440.

2013 - “Old Babylonian Nippur solutions between beneficiaries in a deceased estate division agreement.” Journal for Semitics 22/1:56-89.

2013 - “A new translation of an Old Babylonian Sippar division agreement between brothers and a sister regarding their communally shared inheritance.” Journal for Semitics 22/2:302-342.

2010 - “The so-called ‘Mesopotamian Law Codes:’ What is in a name?” Journal for Semitics 19/2: 461-478.

Non-Accredited Journal Contribution

2005 - Redistribution [division] agreements in the estate administration process of deceased estates (Afrikaans). Journal of Estate Planning Law 36-99.

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Ten Papers Presented at South African Conferences

  1. “Redistribution Agreements in Deceased Estates: Unpacking the Master’s Office Assumed Approval Authority and Practical Strategies for Challenging It”. Presentation at Fiduciary Institute of South Africa: Annual General Meeting. Cape Town. 15 March 2023.
  2. “Restrictions in the solutions and mechanisms used in the South Africa division of an inheritance: Reflection on innovative approaches from the Old Babylonian Period 2000-1600 BCE.” Paper read at the Juris Diversitas Conference “Law, Roots and Space,” co-hosted by the Law Faculty of North-West University, Potchefstroom, 15-17 April 2019.
  3. “Regulation of the female sābītu’s business ventures: does a unified corpus exits in the Law of Hammurabi (LH) 108-111.” Paper read at the XXII Congress of the International Organisation for the Study of the Old Testament co-hosted by The South African Society for Near Eastern Studies SASNES, Stellenbosch (4-9 Sept). 7 September 2016.
  4. “The sanction-clause in Old Babylonian Tell Harmal family division agreements: a post-division arrangement?” Paper read at the annual meeting of the South African Society for Near Eastern Studies SASNES, University of Johannesburg. 1 September 2014.
  5. “Lost in translation: present-day terms in the maintenance texts of the nadiātu from Old Babylonian Nippur.” Paper read at the annual meeting of the South African Society for Near Eastern Studies SASNES, University of Johannesburg. 2 September 2014.
  6. “Legal practices in the division of a communally shared inheritance in Old Babylonian Larsa, Nippur and Sippar.” Paper read at the annual meeting of the South African Society for Near Eastern Studies SASNES, University of Free State. September 2013.
  7. “Prostitution in Ancient Mesopotamia.” Paper read at the Gender Studies Interface of the Humaniora Conference 2012, University of Johannesburg. 15 August 2012.
  8. “Maintenance provisions in Old Babylonian Sippar family deceased division agreements.” Paper read at the joint conference of academic societies in the fields of religion and theology, University of Kwazulu-Natal. 19 June 2012.
  9. “Old Babylonian Nippur solutions between beneficiaries in a deceased estate division agreement.” Paper read at the annual meeting of the South African Society for Near Eastern Studies SASNES, Western Cape University, Bellville. 6 September 2011.
  10. “The so-called ‘Mesopotamian Law Codes:’ What is in a name?” Paper read at the annual meeting of the South African Society for Near Eastern Studies SASNES, University of Stellenbosch. 23 June 2009.

Three Papers Presented at International Conferences

  1. “The concealed crime of the nadītu priestess in §110 of the Laws of Hammurabi.” Paper delivered at 61st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale (Annual Assyriological Conference) Bern/Genève, Switzerland in June 2015.
  2. “Prostitute, Nun or ‘Man-Woman’: Revisiting the Position of the Old Babylonian Nadiātu-Priestesses.” Paper read at Oxford Postgraduate Conference Wolfson College, Oxford, England. April 2015.
  3. “Revisiting: the division agreement in Ancient Mesopotamia and the Book of Joshua.” Paper read at Society of Biblical literature 2013 International meeting, St Andrews, Scotland. 8 July 2013.
DROPDOWN LINE
  • Fellowship Award, North-West University, 2014-2016
  • Oxford University Grant Award, March 2015, Presentation of an Academic Paper after receiving an Oxford Bursary Award to submit an Academic Paper at the Oxford Postgraduate Conference in Assyriology at Wolfson College, Oxford.
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