Widow battling to get fund payout
Law firm holds on to over R300 000
Distribution of a deceased estate is a long process and can take more than five years to administer, depending on the amount of money and the number of properties involved.
But even a small estate can take as long if beneficiaries do not know what to do, how to do it or where to go.
Then, again, some beneficiaries have to deal with attorneys who keep the inheritance for years after receiving payment.
For example, Hilda Rantso has been waiting for seven years to get the estate of her husband wound up because she tried to do so on her own without the assistance of an attorney.
Rantso, 59, said her husband Robert died in 2010, leaving no will. It is only his pension fund and surplus fund that needs to be distributed, and the communal house registered into her name as the surviving spouse, she said.
She did not engage the services of an attorney, but after receiving a letter confirming the amount due to her from the Financial Services Board, she realised she could not get her inheritance without intervention.
Rantso’s husband worked for the SABC and although she was nominated as a beneficiary, she still needed legal experts to transfer the property into her name.
On the advice of a friend, she solicited the assistance of Ismail Ayob of Johannesburg, she said.
Sanlam paid R302 230 into the trust account of Ismail Ayob & Partners on December 17 2013, but Rantso has to date not received her payout.
The grandmother of four said she has to survive on handouts from her daughter as her government grant was too little to cater for her and her grandchildren, who were fathered by her late son.
Her house has also not been transferred into her name although the process takes about three months to complete, she said.
Rantso said, in 2013, the first and final distribution and liquidation account was lodged with the master of the high court.
“After 19 days of lodgement I should have received my money as required by law, but this has not been the case.
“What has made the situation more difficult is the fact that my access to Ismail Ayob appears to have been blocked.”
She said whenever she phoned the law firm she would be told Ayob is not available.
Consumer Line has seen proof of payment that shows Sanlam Employee Benefit Fund transferred the funds on to the law firm’s account.