The ongoing inefficiency with which the Master’s Office allegedly deals with estate matters may be exposed in the High Court.

Nicolene Richards, of Richards Attorneys, has written to the Master threatening court action within 14 days if a matter her firm is struggling to have addressed continues to be ignored.

In her letter, Richards refers to the frequency with which documents are lost, and the tardiness of responses from the Master’s Office in dealing with estates, which she says ‘brings our profession into disrepute as out continued explanations to beneficiaries are frowned upon’.

She says the Master’s Office appears to be in ‘utter disarray’, an issue she says she has discussed with other practitioners who are ‘equally dissatisfied with the poor service’.

‘We urge you to consider a very drastic review of your administration and the chaos that seems to prevail, and to bring your standards up to acceptable norms. You owe the public a duty of care and your lack of prompt service sabotages and captures the spouses and heirs of estates, often leading to excessive hardship and financial strain’.

Attorney's letter