NASSAU-The estranged children of a woman who died without a will have won a fight over her estate.
Eltha Hall did not have a good relationship with her children when she died in 2017. However, she got along with her granddaughter.
The granddaughter, Shaquille Sands, had lived with Ms. Hall in Little Blair since 2010 and she remained there after her death.
Since Ms. Hall died without a will, her children were her heirs.
Ralph Hall, and Louise Hall-Phillips, obtained letters of administration for their mother’s estate with the consent of Sands’ father, Deon Hall.
She was asked to leave the house; they sued when she refused.
Justice Gregory Hilton said, “The fact that the deceased was estranged from the plaintiffs, or that the plaintiffs may have treated her badly, does not change the legal position, or make it unconscionable or inequitable for them to inherit.”
Consequently, Justice Hilton declared Sands a trespasser and ordered her to leave the property within 60 days of his June 2 decision. Also, the court ordered Sands to give up the deceased’s 2013 Honda CRV.
Beneficial interest
At the trial, Sands admitted that her relatives were the legal owners of the grandmother’s property. However, she claimed she had a beneficial interest in the house based on a promise her grandmother had made.
Acting on that pledge, Sands said she made repairs to the home and contributed to its upkeep.
As a result, Sands’ lawyer Ramona Farquharson-Seymour said she had a right to the house.
On the other hand, the plaintiff’s lawyer Stephanie Wells contended that Sands was a trespasser. She asked the court to declare that Sands had no right to the house or to use Ms. Hall’s 2013 Honda CRV.
Nasty Arguments
In her testimony, Sands said her grandmother had poor relationship with her children. In contrast, Sands said they shared a close relationship and Ms. Hall was a “surrogate mother to her.”
As proof of the bitter relationship her grandmother had with her children, Sands produced audio and written recordings of their nasty arguments.
Because of this, Sands said her grandmother said she didn’t want her children to inherit her property. That’s why Sands said she was shocked to learn that her uncle was the beneficiary to Ms. Hall’s life insurance.
As a result, Ms. Hall promised to leave her everything, if she didn’t leave it to the Salvation Army.
After she qualified as a teacher in 2015, Sands said she occasionally gave her grandmother $500 monthly for household expenses.
Sands called four witnesses, who testified about the bad relationship between Ms. Hall and her children.
They also confirmed that Ms. Hall said she would leave the house to Sands, if she didn’t leave it to the Salvation Army or a drug rehabilitation centre.
In his ruling, Justice Hilton said he accepted that the plaintiffs were estranged from their mother. He also accepted that Ms. Hall promised to leave the home to Sands, who had helped with the upkeep of the house. However, he said the promise of the home was not definite.
Justice Hilton said while Sands helped with household expenses, she also lived rent free. He noted that if she lived elsewhere, she would have had to spend more of her salary for her upkeep. He said there was no evidence that Ms. Hall had prevented or dissuaded Sands from getting her own property.
Stephanie Wells represented the plaintiffs and Romona Faraquharson-Seymour represented Sands.
