MUTINTA MULAYE writes
THE Boma Local Court in Lusaka has revoked the appointment of a Chilanga businesswoman as an administrator after she was successfully sued by her sister over their dead father’s estate.
This was in a case in which Monica Haule, 35, sued her sister Susan, 46, before senior local court magistrate Silvia Kabunda, complaining that she (Monica) felt left out on decisions concerning their late father’s estate.
“Our father died in 2013 and left five children and a house in Chilanga that my sister, the administrator, is staying in. She started staying there after the death of our father.
“The reason I want her to be removed as administrator is I feel I’m not counted over decisions she is making on the estate and I’m not benefitting,” Monica said.
She said after they all agreed to make Susan administrator, they decided to dispose of the estate by selling it so that they could share the money equally.
Monica said some time had passed and the house had not been sold. So, her brother called her to ask if they (his siblings) had sat and decided against selling the house.
“My brother told me he had found someone who wanted to buy the house, but was sent away and told the house was no longer on sale. My sister, Susan, just said she was trying to protect the estate and said it was not me or my brother who chose her as an administrator but it was the whole family,” Monica said.
Kelvin Haule told the court that from the time they made Susan administrator, no one had benefitted from their father’s estate apart from herself.
“I believe she has failed to execute her duties as administrator. I found a buyer who drove all the way from Ndola and my sister didn’t even give him access to the house. She told him we had withdrawn the decision to sell the house,” he said.
In her defence, Susan told the court that her desire was to protect the estate and to protect everyone’s interests.
She told the court that when she stopped her brother from using the title deeds to get a loan he slowly started detaching himself from her.
The court allowed the application and revoked Susan’s appointment as administrator in accordance with the Interstate Succession Act.
The law allowed for revocation in a situation where there was deprivation of the rightful beneficiaries to the estate.