Reclusive woman wins control of her dead husband’s $5 million estate

Reclusive woman wins control of her dead husband’s $5 million estate

A Serbian recluse has become a multi-millionaire overnight after she was granted almost $1 million in cash and a portfolio of Australian properties believed to be worth up to $4 million.

Mary Zlatic, 86, has spent decades living in a tiny mud hut on the outskirts of eastern Serbia with only her dogs for company, surviving on her Australian pension of $100-a-month, Serbian website Večernje novosti reported.

Her husband, Momcilo Zlatic died in Australia in 2011, but it took four years to collect the right documents and track down Mrs Zlatic in Serbia before the NSW Supreme Court could clear her husband’s will, granting her $940,000 and the deed to a portfolio of properties in December.

Mrs Zlatic and her husband moved from Serbia to Australia in 1956 before gaining citizenship.

‘I remember like it was yesterday. Momcilo and I bought a one way ticket to Australia. My husband was working as a carpenter in a factory, and I took care of the household,’ Mary told Vecernje Novosti.

However, Mrs Zlatic later returned to her home town of Boljevac in Serbia to look after her sick mother until she died.

Mrs Zlatic’s trip home was only meant to be temporary, but she has not been back to Australia since.

Her husband stayed in Australia and re-married.

‘Momcilo occasionally wrote. And, yes, he would send me money,’ said Mary, who does not often talk to reporters, for fears that they will try to take her money.

However, the couple lost contact. Years passed and Mrs Zlatic had not heard from her husband.

A neighbour who had heard word that Mrs Zlatic’s husband had died offered to help. The neighbour, who wishes to remain unnamed told Vecernje Novosti that she managed to get in touch with the NSW Trustee and Guardian department in 2015 who confirmed that Mr Zlatic had died.

A bank in Boljevac contacted Mrs Zlatic soon after and informed her that she would receive the inheritance of close to $1 million, the newspaper reported.

Despite her new-found wealth, neighbours told the newspaper Mrs Zlatic is likely to stay living in her simple mud hut.

source: www.dailymail.co.uk