Wills workshop helps residents

Marsha Bothma|Published 9 months ago

Residents from Portland could access services with attorneys in drafting wills. From left are Talib Jantjies from TJ Properties, Cornelia Martheza, member of Rock of Hope Senior Club, Aqeel Kadar attorney from VTC Attorneys, Candace Permall Attorney from VTC Attorneys, Julies Jantjes from Julies Attorneys and Ashwin Johnson, chairperson of Portland Community Safety and Development Foundation.

Portland residents were helped by attorneys to draft wills last month.

On Tuesday June 25, TJ Properties together with Portland Community Safety and Development Foundation partnered, hosted a workshop about drafting wills and the management of estates at Lentegeur Civic Centre.

The 130 attendants were taught about wills, property laws if a spouse passes on, transfer duties and costs of property when a spouse dies. They also held one-on-one sessions with the attorneys,

“We deem this as a very important service that must be rendered to our community. We have discovered that our people are facing great challenges in relation to property, inheritance, transfer duties and costs. Many times, because they lack the knowledge, they fall into being scammed out of their homes,” said Portland Community Safety and Development Foundation chairperson Ashwin Johnson.

He said that in many cases where there is no will, disputes over property arise between the children and surviving spouses of the deceased.

“We aim to do this much more often,” said Mr Johnson.