WeeklySA_AdminFRUSTRATION:Legal Practice Council steps in to resolve dispute between client and law firm
By Thuli Zungu
A process to dissolve a deceased’s estate can be an emotionally taxing experience for the bereaved and beneficiaries who expect their inheritance to be released timeously. Worse, their anxiety can be especially heightened when attorneys take longer than expected.
A case in point is that of a divorcee, Envoy Makam, 54, of Centurion, who has been battling to get Noko Ramaboya Attorneys to wind up his ex-wife’s estate for some time.
Makam says at the time of his wife’s death they were in a process of reconciling, and, as a surviving parent, he was allowed custody over his two children, aged 12 and 14.
He said he was not appointed as an executor of the deceased’s estate because, at the time, he had asked his attorney to represent him at the Masters’ office. However, he claims his attorney did not advise him accordingly, on the requirements to qualify. As a result, he had requested that the Master appoint Mokate Victor Noko as such in 2017.
“Though he promised that the estate would be wound up within six months as it was not contested, but until now nothing has been completed,” Makam said.
Apart from his wife’s matter, this firm was also engaged to wind up the estate of his ex-wife’s parents as well. “Noko sent an evaluator to evaluate the property at Onderstepoort, but nothing has been done to date except for the evaluation report, for which it was paid for,” he said.
Makam said, instead of winding up her deceased parents’ estate first, they started with that of the ex-wife. “Six legal experts within the firm have been working on this file with no results. What am I paying them for?” asked Makam.
He accused this law firm of inexplicable delays in handling the two deceased’s estates and has since reported the lawyers to the Legal Practice Council’s Gauteng Provincial office.
Makam said, still, they did not honour the promises they made to the LPC as per their response letter to the LPC. “There’s half done work and now they want to terminate the relationship. Cars sold two years ago are still not yet registered to the prospective buyers, and the Onderstepoort property,” he claimed.
He said the firm scheduled and failed to honour their own meetings and now have the guards to say he is hostile when questioning issues. He said now they were telling him that he had been appointed as an executor for the parents’ estate and expected to start all the work they failed to do in the past four years.
“Recently, when transferring one of the deceased properties it was registered in Noko’s name and when questioned he told me it was a mistake,” adding that he later corrected his mistake. They haD not met the deadlines promised to the LPC, he said.
“The deadline they committed to since I complained has long passed”. The lawyers had since offered a 3% discount of the total estate value as their legal fees to make up,” he said. In response, Noko Ramaboya Attorneys’ Andrea Julius said the estate involved minor children and reporting and publication could only be done if it was in their best interest
She said the complaint was submitted to the regulatory body and believed that this matter be dealt with by that office. The client would be kept updated by that body and he should also be able to keep the WSAM posted.
The winding up process was in its penultimate stage and the liquidation and distribution account had been advertised and could also be accessed at the Master’s office in Pretoria, she said.
“Both children and their father have been receiving payment for maintenance and school-related expenses,” Julius said.
