The legal battle between Springbok legend Joost van der Westhuizen’s brother and his estranged celebrity wife Amor Vittone over his last will and testament has been postponed indefinitely. A Pretoria News report says the will has been a bone of contention since Joost’s death in February. The rugby star's brother, Pieter van der Westhuizen, and then attorney, Ferdinand Hartzenberg, turned to the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) to declare the will drawn up in September 2015 as his last.

In terms of this will Pieter was appointed as the executor and his belongings were bequeathed to his two children. However, the Master of the High Court did not to accept the will as being legal as Joost did not sign it. It was signed by Hartzenberg, who acted as a commissioner of oaths. Joost was at that time too weak from motor neurone disease to sign it.

This left a will, which Joost and Vittone drew up jointly in August 2009, as his valid testament. In terms of that will, Vittone would inherit mostly from his estate. Hartzenberg asked the court to make an exception and to honour the rugby legend’s wishes for Vittone not to inherit his share. Vittone filed a notice to oppose the application. She was due to file her opposing papers by September, but omitted to do so.

The case was on the unopposed roll for last week, but it has since emerged that Vittone had filed her answering affidavit on 29 November – about a week before the hearing was due to start. The Joost camp argued that her belated court papers were filed out of time and that it should not be accepted by the court. They accused Vittone, in a letter before the court, of ‘maliciously and deliberately attempting to delay the outcome of the matter’. The matter was, however, postponed indefinitely and Vittone accepted the liability to pay the wasted legal costs.

Full Pretoria News report