Bid to get stolen trust inheritance fails
When an e-mail hacker stole R935 000 of Una van Rensburg’s R3.75m share of an inheritance left to her in an obsolete trust, the 70-year-old dragged her younger siblings and fellow trustees – Richardt van Rensburg, Cecile Oberholzer and Tertia Britz – to court.
‘(Una) sought to resolve the issue with her siblings and they indicated that they considered the fact that she did not receive the payment to be her problem, and not fraud perpetrated against the trust,’ Eastern Cape High Court (Makhanda) Acting Judge Mickey Mfenyana said in his ruling.
According to a Times Select report, Una had asked the judge to remove the four siblings as trustees of the trust her father Dickie set up to benefit his widow, Vona.
She said there was a conflict of interest between their duties as trustees and their interests as trust beneficiaries.
But Mfenyana said the only beneficiary of the trust established after Dickie’s death in 2015 was Vona.
The trust ceased to exist when she died in 2018 and its funds became part of her estate.
He dismissed Una’s case with costs.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
