# Probate Help Needed



## Bubo53 (Dec 4, 2010)

On November 10 I got a call from Johannesburg SA informing me that my ex-husband, Tom, and father of my daughter, had died very suddenly. We had emigrated to SA in 1974. I left in 1986 and have been living in the US since. I am remarried. My daughter is his only legitimate heir, but he does have an illegitimate son about 8 years old. The day he died the ex-girlfriend broke into his home, and removed all his personal papers, and although in possession of his death certificate and his Will, she has not reported his death to the probate office yet. I contacted a tenant on his property, and sent Powers of Attorney over to him from myself and my daughter so he could act for us. I have since found out that Tom's property is still in my name--he never put it in his own name, even though I signed a document enabling him to do so. The property has a few cottages on it, and the house itself is divided into two flats. The rent each month is around R20,000.00. A realtor has said it is worth around R1 millions. The tenant who was "working" for me, since collecting rents, has been ignoring my emails and calls. Legal advice I received was that I could not sell the property because it may be part of Tommy's estate even though it is in my name. Other legal advice I got was sell the property asap and run with the money before it is contested. The one thing that is most important to note is the fact that Tom has not paid any taxes since 1974--I mean nothing! However, he dealt mostly in cash (I believe from his best friend) so there is no records of his income anywhere.

My daughter and I are at our wits ends and have been dealing with this since Tom's death. I need some advice! My daughter is disabled and cannot travel alone, and there is no way we can go over there because I have used up my leave already and will have no more until summer 2011. To appoint an atttorney will cost us R25,000.00 and I am just not sure that it is worth the money if everything will go to the government anyway. Any advice would be truly appreciated.


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## vegasboy (Apr 28, 2010)

Bubo53 said:


> On November 10 I got a call from Johannesburg SA informing me that my ex-husband, Tom, and father of my daughter, had died very suddenly. We had emigrated to SA in 1974. I left in 1986 and have been living in the US since. I am remarried. My daughter is his only legitimate heir, but he does have an illegitimate son about 8 years old. The day he died the ex-girlfriend broke into his home, and removed all his personal papers, and although in possession of his death certificate and his Will, she has not reported his death to the probate office yet. I contacted a tenant on his property, and sent Powers of Attorney over to him from myself and my daughter so he could act for us. I have since found out that Tom's property is still in my name--he never put it in his own name, even though I signed a document enabling him to do so. The property has a few cottages on it, and the house itself is divided into two flats. The rent each month is around R20,000.00. A realtor has said it is worth around R1 millions. The tenant who was "working" for me, since collecting rents, has been ignoring my emails and calls. Legal advice I received was that I could not sell the property because it may be part of Tommy's estate even though it is in my name. Other legal advice I got was sell the property asap and run with the money before it is contested. The one thing that is most important to note is the fact that Tom has not paid any taxes since 1974--I mean nothing! However, he dealt mostly in cash (I believe from his best friend) so there is no records of his income anywhere.
> 
> My daughter and I are at our wits ends and have been dealing with this since Tom's death. I need some advice! My daughter is disabled and cannot travel alone, and there is no way we can go over there because I have used up my leave already and will have no more until summer 2011. To appoint an atttorney will cost us R25,000.00 and I am just not sure that it is worth the money if everything will go to the government anyway. Any advice would be truly appreciated.


My HO is to spend the R25k and get a good lawyer to assist you. The fact that you have a disabled daughter (in my opinion) constitutes a legal claim against his estate, but check it out with with a lawyer.


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## tcrocker (Nov 9, 2010)

*Follow up quickly*



Bubo53 said:


> On November 10 I got a call from Johannesburg SA informing me that my ex-husband, Tom, and father of my daughter, had died very suddenly. We had emigrated to SA in 1974. I left in 1986 and have been living in the US since. I am remarried. My daughter is his only legitimate heir, but he does have an illegitimate son about 8 years old. The day he died the ex-girlfriend broke into his home, and removed all his personal papers, and although in possession of his death certificate and his Will, she has not reported his death to the probate office yet. I contacted a tenant on his property, and sent Powers of Attorney over to him from myself and my daughter so he could act for us. I have since found out that Tom's property is still in my name--he never put it in his own name, even though I signed a document enabling him to do so. The property has a few cottages on it, and the house itself is divided into two flats. The rent each month is around R20,000.00. A realtor has said it is worth around R1 millions. The tenant who was "working" for me, since collecting rents, has been ignoring my emails and calls. Legal advice I received was that I could not sell the property because it may be part of Tommy's estate even though it is in my name. Other legal advice I got was sell the property asap and run with the money before it is contested. The one thing that is most important to note is the fact that Tom has not paid any taxes since 1974--I mean nothing! However, he dealt mostly in cash (I believe from his best friend) so there is no records of his income anywhere.
> 
> My daughter and I are at our wits ends and have been dealing with this since Tom's death. I need some advice! My daughter is disabled and cannot travel alone, and there is no way we can go over there because I have used up my leave already and will have no more until summer 2011. To appoint an atttorney will cost us R25,000.00 and I am just not sure that it is worth the money if everything will go to the government anyway. Any advice would be truly appreciated.


What ever you decide to do you must act quickly. My advice would be to contact a lawyer there as soon as possible. Once probate is granted it is very difficult to overturn.


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## Daxk (Jan 20, 2008)

Bubo53 said:


> On November 10 I got a call from Johannesburg SA informing me that my ex-husband, Tom, and father of my daughter, had died very suddenly. We had emigrated to SA in 1974. I left in 1986 and have been living in the US since. I am remarried. My daughter is his only legitimate heir, but he does have an illegitimate son about 8 years old. The day he died the ex-girlfriend broke into his home, and removed all his personal papers, and although in possession of his death certificate and his Will, she has not reported his death to the probate office yet. I contacted a tenant on his property, and sent Powers of Attorney over to him from myself and my daughter so he could act for us. I have since found out that Tom's property is still in my name--he never put it in his own name, even though I signed a document enabling him to do so. The property has a few cottages on it, and the house itself is divided into two flats. The rent each month is around R20,000.00. A realtor has said it is worth around R1 millions. The tenant who was "working" for me, since collecting rents, has been ignoring my emails and calls. Legal advice I received was that I could not sell the property because it may be part of Tommy's estate even though it is in my name. Other legal advice I got was sell the property asap and run with the money before it is contested. The one thing that is most important to note is the fact that Tom has not paid any taxes since 1974--I mean nothing! However, he dealt mostly in cash (I believe from his best friend) so there is no records of his income anywhere.
> 
> My daughter and I are at our wits ends and have been dealing with this since Tom's death. I need some advice! My daughter is disabled and cannot travel alone, and there is no way we can go over there because I have used up my leave already and will have no more until summer 2011. To appoint an atttorney will cost us R25,000.00 and I am just not sure that it is worth the money if everything will go to the government anyway. Any advice would be truly appreciated.


why have you had no contact since 1986?


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