Good afternoon everyone,
I live in Berkshire, England but have family in Malta.
I am interested to see if anyone has faced or is facing the same experience with respects to finding someone to talk to and discuss issues arising from the recent passing of my father.
I have tried to obtain the help of the remaining family I have left in Malta but they all appear to be very reluctant to get involved.
A friend suggested I try an expat forum as someone else may have had previous experience of what I'm up against and may have some helpful advice, so here goes (fingers crossed).
My father lived in Malta for most of his life and recently passed away leaving a Will that could have been more clearly worded. There are a number of queries that have arisen from the Will and I have found it very hard to find someone from the legal profession who is willing to respond to my telephone calls and emails. Living in the UK and trying to deal with a Will drawn up in Malta is very challenging.
I have telephoned the Notary who drew up the Will for my father but his English is limited and my Maltese is virtually non-existent. He has hung up on me on the times I have managed to get him to answer the phone, which has proved frustrating (and very rude).
It was clear I was getting nowhere fast, so I emailed a four Notaries in Malta from the Internet. As none of them responded within a week, I approached another four Notaries that I had not previously written to. Again, I received no acknowledgement of any of my emails after a week.
My sister has managed to contact the original Notary (the rude one) who responded to her email after a week and he advised that he was willing to help us with the winding up of my father's Estate, which was a relief. I have since emailed him three times and have had no acknowledgement or response from him since. I have no idea if he is dealing with matters in the background and intends updating me when he has new information or if he is doing nothing at all.
This will be the only time I will have to deal with a matter of this nature and I'd like to get it right and successfully conclude it with the least fuss but I seem to have hit a brick wall when it comes to involving the Maltese Judicial system!
Are my experiences normal or am I over-reacting?
Does anyone have any ideas on how to grab a Notary's attention in Malta?
How do I get a Notary's attention in Malta?
Welcome to the Forum 
I'm sorry for your loss. 
I have asked for your post to be moved to the Malta Forum for a better response. Due to the time, this will more than likely happen early tomorrow.
SimCityAT
Expat.com Expert Team
Hi Shimmz,
Your topic is now on the Malta forum.
Thanks,
Priscilla
Expat.com team 
With the number of online scams currently about I am not surprised that the notaries will not respond to email or phone contact. I would suggest that you need to visit Malta with proof of who you are and sort out the problem face to face.
Terry.
Why not come to Malta and make an appointment to see the notary.
AS Terry points out things can't be sorted out online or by telephone. A great aunt of mine passed away and left me a bit of money. Although I have the means to scan documents etc... I had to fly back to Wales to fill out forms and sign documents. They had to see me in person so they could see me take a copy of my passport and take a copy of it. Although they knew who I was (the family lawyer that deals with everything back in Wales) Then the inheritance was handed over. I asked the reason for this, they said because Emails can be hacked and verbal confirmation is not enough. I was not even permitted to give my father authorisation to deal with it.
So as the previous have said, you will need to take a vacation to Malta.
It's also a waste of time emailing companies in Malta anyway as most do not respond.
Dear All
Many thanks for your responses, it is much appreciated.
I understand that I need to be in Malta at some point but I am on a limited budget and unable to afford to take flights to see a Notary who may only spare me 15 -30 minutes of their time. I also have the added problem of an unsympathetic employer so I do not want to be put in the position where my increasing absences jeopardise my job. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place in that respect.
All I need is for a Notary to respond positively to my queries so I can take the next step and make arrangements to visit the island with a definite agenda. If a Notary is unwilling to facilitate an appointment, I could end up making an ad-hoc journey and coming away with no answers. Alternatively, a trip to Malta may prove to be the only way to get any solid answers and, at this moment, I feel it is my only option.
Many thanks to all of you for your help.
You have already stated that the original notary is willing to go ahead with the handling of the will etc. He is probably waiting for someone to actually make an appointment and turn up.
Terry
Thank you Terry, I'm just finding it frustrating that even though I've asked for an appointment, the Notary involved is not forthcoming with any dates & times.
I am endeavouring to call him today though he's not answering his telephone at the moment.
Your comments are very much appreciated.
Many notaries just dont work full time or cater only to Maltese etc, and are also pretty shady etc. The ones in my village are only around once a month or so, its hillarious how these people make a living
If you're right, then I'm really up against it. The Causa Mortis has to be completed before 1 July otherwise I'll be stung for a higher tax rate. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I've got one that doesn't only work once a month!
Many thanks for your comment
I have a good english speaking and reasonably efficient notary if you're ready to give up on this one
Hello,
I am sorry for the loss of your father.
I can recommend a notary we recently used to purchase a property but she also deals in estates. The only problem is she is about to have a baby. Her name and contact details are as follows:
Dr Veronica Mizzi Young
Notary Public and Commissioner for Oaths
3, Triq Sant'Agata, Rabat RBT2011, Malta
+356 79415557 / + 356 21451880
www.mizziyoung.com
[email protected]
If Veronica can't help you I can recommend another man who advised us to be very concise with our wills and while he is not a notary, he will be able to refer you to a colleague who has dealt with more complicated wills that involve foreigners.
Best of luck sorting this.
Kind regards,
Danette Jaeb
Many thanks, I'm grateful for your help.
I've managed to find someone to help & keeping my fingers crossed that things will finally move forward.
Thanks to everyone who gave advice.
See Dr Josette Cauchi.
her office is in the Duke, Victoria.
Very nice lady and is very up on probate issues.
She acted for us buying a house here and one of the vendors passed away and it took some sorting out but she managed it in record time.
regards and good luck
Nic Carey
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