“Share Equally”: Family Fights for Woman’s R22 Million Estate in Western Cape High Court

• Four siblings ended up in the Western Cape High Court after their late mother's R22 million estate became the centre of a bitter inheritance dispute
• Three of the children argued that the leftover estate should be split only between them, while their brother maintained their mother never intended to cut him out
• A judge ruled in the fourth sibling's favour, finding that a specific clause in the will required all four children to share equally when any dispute arose

A mother's R22 million estate tore her four children apart in court after they could not agree on what her will actually meant. JER Orlik passed away in March 2022, leaving behind assets worth just under R22 million. She had signed her will in October 2021, and in it she made specific provisions for each of her children, other family members, and her grandchildren.

Her daughter walked away with all of her mother's jewellery plus R200,000 in cash. The eldest son received R750,000. The youngest son received R950,000. The third son got something different from the rest. He was given his mother's loan account in the RSA and M Trust, along with everything connected to that trust, and was also appointed as the follow-up trustee of the same trust.

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Once those individual portions had been sorted out, the family hit a wall. Nobody could agree on who was supposed to receive what was left over.

What the family argued in court

The daughter and two of the sons, together with the estate's executor, took the matter to the Western Cape High Court. Their position was that the leftover estate belonged to the three of them only. They pointed to a specific clause in the will that listed the three of them as the people entitled to split whatever remained after the other bequests had been paid out.

Their brother took a different view. He told the court that their mother had no intention of shutting him out of the remainder of the estate. He pointed to a separate clause in the same will that dealt specifically with what should happen if the children ever found themselves in a dispute.

That clause stated clearly that when a disagreement arose, all four children were required to share equally in the inheritance.

How the judge settled the R22 million estate dispute

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Judge Daniel Thulare agreed with the son who had been left out. The court found that the dispute clause applied to all four children and that it was activated the moment any disagreement came up about the bequests in the will.

Because the siblings were arguing about whether their brother deserved a cut of the leftover estate, that clause applied directly to the situation.

The same clause also named a chartered accountant to step in and resolve any such disagreements. There was a firm instruction that all four children must end up with equal shares when he does.

The judge concluded that the brother was entitled to his share alongside his three siblings.

More inheritance and estate disputes

• Briefly News recently reported on a legal battle that erupted over the late Mosiuoa Lekota's estate, with his wife and another woman both staking a claim.
• A young man went viral after sharing how a multimillion-rand inheritance was wiped out in a lifestyle that South Africa could not stop talking about.
• A woman also walked away with a major portion of her ex-husband's wealth after taking him to court when he tried to leave her with nothing following decades of marriage.

Source: Briefly News