Pretoria - A legal tussle over the last will and testament of a businessman who committed suicide took place in the high court in Pretoria, with the man’s estranged wife not accepting that his will does not entitle her to inherit anything.
Gert van Niekerk left his entire estate - consisting of his business interests, properties and money - to his three children.
This is in terms of a will discovered a few days after his suicide, which was left under his bed.
He committed suicide by hanging himself a day after his estranged wife Sharon van Niekerk told him there was no chance of them reconciling, as she had someone else in her life. He drafted his last will shortly before he died.
In terms of a will drafted a few years ago, Sharon was due to inherit the bulk of his estate.
But Gert’s mother Wilma van Niekerk told the court that a few days after his death, they were cleaning out his room and found a box with documents under his bed. That will was signed long after the known will and in terms of the new will, Sharon was disinherited and the couple’s three children were the sole beneficiaries.
Sharon contested this will, saying that it was not signed by her estranged husband. She claimed his signature was forged on the document.
Wilma turned to the court, asking for an order compelling the Master of the High Court to accept this last will as the true and last wishes of her son.
She told the court her son clearly wanted his children to inherit and not his wife, who had left him for another man. Wilma was also nominated as the executor of her son’s estate, but she said that amid all the animosity over the will, she did not want to accept the responsibility.
Sharon instituted summons for divorce from her husband three months before his death. She also obtained an order against him a month before his suicide, preventing him from seeing his children without supervision.
Gert, meanwhile, moved in with his mother and there the contested will was discovered under his bed.
He clearly stated in the document that he revoked his previous will and it had to be replaced with the new one.
Sharon disputed its validity and said fraud had been committed as it was not her husband’s signature. A handwriting expert, however, confirmed to the court it was his.
Sharon also tried to convince the court that her estranged husband was not of sound mind at the time of his death and that she very much doubted if he meant to disinherit her. A psychologist who examined Gert prior to his death found that he was “sad and gloomy” man, but he was of sound mind.
In terms of the will drafted in August 2008 - five years before Gert’s death - Sharon was due to inherit nearly all of his estate, consisting of houses, his business’s buildings and money. It is not stated in court papers how big the estate is.
Judge Nicolene Janse van Nieuwenhuizen said it was clear to her that Gert had intended to change his will and to bequeath everything to his children.
Pretoria News
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