Ex Parte Douallier

In Ex Parte Douallier, an important case in South African succession law, certain premises had been bequeathed to the petitioner, and after her death to her eldest child, on the condition that she was not to mortgage or alienate the property. The petitioner was too poor to pay the costs of transfer or to repair the premises, which were fast becoming uninhabitable. The eldest child was a minor.

The court, in the interest of the minor, and in order to prevent the bequest from failing altogether, granted leave to mortgage the premises for such sum as would be sufficient to enable the petitioner to obtain transfer and place the premises in a habitable state of repair, and directed that the interest should be paid by her during her life.