Top 5 Legal New Year’s Resolutions for You and Your Business

Rui Marto

The start of a new year is traditionally a time for reflection, recalibration, and renewed focus. While personal resolutions often centre on health or productivity, legal housekeeping is just as critical—particularly for business owners, directors, and investors operating in an increasingly regulated and fast-moving environment.

Many legal risks do not arise from dramatic disputes or bad faith, but rather from outdated documents, informal arrangements, or assumptions that no longer reflect reality. A new year provides the perfect opportunity to address these issues proactively.

Below are five practical legal New Year’s resolutions that can help protect you, your business, and your legacy in the year ahead.

If there is one legal resolution that should take priority every year, it is this one.  A valid, up-to-date will should evolve as your life and business evolve. Yet many professionals and entrepreneurs either do not have a will at all, or rely on one drafted years—sometimes decades—ago.

Key questions to ask at the start of the year:

• Are your executors still appropriate and willing to act?
• Have you reviewed your heirs and beneficiaries?
• Are guardians for minor children still suitable?
• Do your bequests still reflect your wishes and relationships?

Life events that typically require a review include:

• Marriage or divorce
• The birth of children or grandchildren
• Deaths in the family
• New relationships or blended families
• New business ventures or shareholdings
• The acquisition or disposal of assets
• Changes in tax laws or cross-border exposure

For business owners, it is equally important to ensure that your will aligns with your corporate and shareholder arrangements, and that succession is clearly planned.

In an increasingly global world, many individuals should also consider whether a foreign will is required to deal with assets held outside South Africa. Poorly coordinated wills across jurisdictions can cause unnecessary delays and complications for heirs.

Finally, this is also the right time to consider updating—or putting in place—a Living Will or Advance Medical Directive, setting out your wishes should you become unable to make medical decisions for yourself.

Resolution: Review your will annually and ensure it reflects your current family, business, and asset position.

Estate planning goes beyond a will. It is about ensuring that your wealth, business interests, and personal affairs are structured in a way that is efficient, tax-aware, and sustainable over the long term.

This resolution is about asking the bigger questions:

• Are you still on track with your wealth-building and retirement planning?
• Do your trusts, companies, and holding structures still serve their intended purpose?
• Are loans, guarantees, and inter-entity arrangements properly documented?
• Is your estate exposed to unnecessary tax leakage or liquidity pressure?

A well-structured estate plan should also be practical. Have you prepared a centralised estate file containing:

• Your will and trust deeds
• Details of business interests
• Insurance policies
• Account information
• Key contacts and advisors

This information can significantly ease the burden on executors and loved ones at a difficult time and prevent costly delays.

Resolution: Treat estate planning as a living strategy, not a once-off exercise.

Contracts are the backbone of any business relationship—yet they are often signed, filed away, and forgotten. Over time, businesses evolve: operations expand, pricing structures change, partners come and go, and regulatory requirements shift. Contracts that once made sense may quietly become misaligned with how your business actually operates.

A contract review should include:

• Supplier and service agreements
• Customer and distribution contracts
• Lease agreements
• Employment and consultancy agreements
• Shareholders’ or partnership agreements

Key questions to ask:

• Are the parties correctly identified and still the same?
• Do the commercial terms reflect current practice?
• Are termination, renewal, and notice clauses appropriate?
• Are dispute resolution mechanisms clear and enforceable?

Outdated or poorly drafted agreements often only come under scrutiny once something goes wrong—by which time options may be limited. A short annual legal review can prevent costly disputes and strengthen your negotiating position.

Resolution: Commit to an annual contract audit—especially before renewing or renegotiating key agreements.

Many businesses begin with simple structures that grow organically over time. New shareholders may be introduced, loans advanced informally, or roles evolve without proper documentation. This often works—until it doesn’t.

Common problem areas include:

• Share registers that do not match reality
• Missing or outdated shareholders’ agreements
• Director loans not properly recorded or regulated
• Unclear decision-making authority
• Lack of exit or succession provisions

These issues tend to surface during major events such as:

• A sale or investment round
• A shareholder dispute
• A director’s resignation or death
• Financing or due diligence exercises
• Restructuring of company group

A clean, well-documented structure is not only legally compliant—it adds real value to your business and makes it more attractive to investors, lenders, and partners.

Resolution: Ensure your company records, shareholding, and governance documents accurately reflect how the business actually operates.

Employment law remains one of the most common sources of risk for businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises. As businesses grow, informal arrangements that once seemed efficient can quickly become liabilities.

Key areas to review include:

• Written employment contracts for all staff
• Clear job descriptions and reporting lines
• Disciplinary and grievance procedures
• Compliance with minimum wage, leave, and working-hour requirements
• Confidentiality, restraint of trade, and IP protection clauses

With increased regulatory scrutiny and a growing awareness of employee rights, non-compliance can result in disputes, reputational damage, and financial exposure. This resolution is not only about compliance—it is also about clarity and fairness, which support better workplace relationships and reduce misunderstandings.

Resolution: Start the year with a compliance check of your employment contracts and internal policies.

Legal resolutions are not about adding complexity—they are about creating certainty, reducing risk, and enabling growth. Addressing legal housekeeping early in the year allows business owners to focus on opportunities with confidence, knowing that the foundations are sound.

The most successful businesses are not those that never encounter legal issues, but those that anticipate them, manage them proactively, and plan ahead.  As the year unfolds, taking the time to implement these resolutions can pay dividends—not only in risk reduction, but in peace of mind and long-term sustainability.