Ex Parte Boedel Steenkamp

Ex Parte Boedel Steenkamp
Court Orange Free State Provincial Division
Full case name Ex Parte Boedel Steenkamp
Decided 5 July 1962 (1962-07-05)
Citation(s) 1962 (3) SA 954 (O)
Case opinions
Will, Child in ventre matris, Inheritance, Succession
Court membership
Judge sitting De Villiers J
Case opinions
Decision by De Villiers J

In Ex Parte Boedel Steenkamp, an important case in the South African law of persons and succession, heard on June 21, 1962, the residue of the deceased’s estate was bequeathed in equal shares in his will to his daughter and his daughter’s children "wat by datum van dood in die lewe is" (who are alive when I die). At the time of the deceased’s death, his daughter had two children and was pregnant with a third. The question before the court was whether the nasciturus could inherit. The court was unwilling to act to the prejudice of the nasciturus, and held, therefore, that it could inherit. A child in ventre matris had to be presumed to be alive for the purpose of inheritance, and was entitled to inherit equally with his mother, the testator's daughter, and her other children already born at the death of the testator.

The applicant's attorneys were McIntyre & van der Post.

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