Amor Vittone gets only Joost’s TV

Singer slammed for ‘lacking respect’ as rugby legend’s will is upheld by the high court.

The 2015 will was declared valid as judge slams Vittone for ‘lacking respect and compassion’.

Ahigh court judge in Pretoria has lashed singer Amor Vittone’s denial that her late husband, rugby legend Joost van der Westhuizen, was no longer able to hold a pen when he drew up a new will as “scandalous” and her conduct towards him as “lacking respect and compassion”.

Judge Hans Fabricius yesterday granted an order to Joost’s brother Pieter and attorney Ferdinand Hartzenberg, declaring the legendary rugby player’s 2015 will as valid and reflecting his last wishes and ordering Amor to pay the legal costs involved.

Vittone will only inherit a television set in terms of the will while the bulk of the estate is left in trust to their two children.

Vittone opposed the application, claiming a 2009 joint will in which she was Joost’s only heir was valid as he never signed his 2015 will. She questioned his mental capacity and claimed he was still able to hold objects in 2015 and would have been able to sign his will.

Joost died of motor neuron disease in February 2017, but Hartzenberg said his condition had deteriorated to such an extent by 2015 that he could not sign the will himself, although there was nothing wrong with his mental abilities and he could still communicate using modern technology and his eye movements.

Fabricius said there was a whole history leading up to the new will, including Joost’s physical and mental condition, indicating that he knew exactly what he wanted and why. It was strange that Vittone, who was Joost’s wife for many years, would not have been able to say how his condition progressed.

He said there was enough evidence that Joost was unable to even hold a trophy presented to him in 2015 and Vittone’s denial that he could not hold a pen was “scandalous, to put it lightly”.

As for his mental condition, Vittone said nothing about what she had observed. She also said nothing about allegations that she had threatened to change the children’s surnames and keep them away from Joost if she was not declared the heir of the entire estate, or about Joost setting up a trust because of her undisciplined spending. The judge said this was not the way to treat someone you once were in love with or how you treated your children. –

He knew exactly what he wanted and why.

Picture: Simphiwe Nkwali VICTORY. Joost van der Westhuizen’s will of 2015 was accepted by the High Court in Pretoria yesterday. Van der Westhuizen’s widow, Amor Vittone, was contesting the validity of the will, claiming she was the sole heir of his estate, as indicated in a previous will in 2009.

Picture: Gallo Images LOSER. Amor Vittone.