Estate not distributed - 10 years after spouse's death

A KWAGGAFONTEIN granny, Lettie Mtsweni, 63, has waited 10 years for attorneys to give her a share of the R343,000 nest egg her husband had saved for his family.

Mtsweni, a grandmother of 17, said two of the four beneficiaries have also died before they could get their share.

She said the attorneys have been sending her from pillar to post, changing the administrator of her case since her husband's death in 2002.

Her daughter, Sylvia Nyandeni, said her father did not have a will and her mother had to enlist the services of an attorney to help them dissolve her father's estate.

They gave the first attorney all the required documents, but he could not finalise the matter as her mother's marriage to her father was not registered.

"She (Mtsweni) eventually got a certificate from Home Affairs recognising her customary marriage with my father," said Nyandeni.

She said they though the certificate would resolve the problem, but it did not and as years went by, her two sister's also passed away still waiting for their share.

The file then moved from one law firm to another, and new interviews were conducted, Nyandeni said.

Since 2008, Mtsweni's file has been with Bossert & Joskolka Attorneys, and before then it was handled by, Stephen Whitely of Wright Rose-Innes Attorneys, she said.

Nyandeni said the attorney told them they could not trace his father's savings yet the first attorney did so without hassles.

"Now each time I phone they say they are waiting for the master of the high court to give them an answer pertaining to our file. This has been an ongoing response from this law firm," said Nyandeni, adding that she could not understand why their case was referred to the master's office as there are no minor children to inherit from his late father's estate.

She said she only got a feedback from the secretary instead of the attorney.

"Last Monday, Tracy's secretary said the master has 2500 cases to handle and we have to wait until those files have been finalised," said Nyandeni.

C onsumer L ine, took up the Mtsweni case with Anne Bossert of Bossert & Joskolka Attorneys.

Bossert said the Nyandeni estate was in fact reported to the master of the high court in Pretoria.

She said they had received confirmation of payment of investment held by Standard Bank into the deceased's estate bank account.

In other words, Nyandeni's investment is safe in his Standard Bank account.

Bossert said they have also arranged with the Sherriff of Heidelberg to proceed with the evaluation of the list of Nyandeni's assets.

She said they were also unable to contact Nyandeni's sister, Brenda, who is currently occupying the deceased's house.

Bossert said they could not reach Brenda as they did not have her cellphone number.

"We shall proceed to follow up the matter and further endeavour to get in contact with her, unless you (Sowetan) can provide us with alternative contact details of Brenda," Bossert said.

C onsumer Line gave the numbers.

"As soon as they (the lawyers handling the case) have all the relevant information they will be able to draw the liquidation and distribution account and lodge the same with the master," Bossert said.