u/lunak0v

Hi everyone,

I, 20F, am a 1st year university student, funded by NSFAS. I stay with a family member, and the situation is not really going well. I was raised by a single mom, and my absent father died in 2021.

Before my father died, he was a wealthy businessman very well known in his area. My mom took him to maintenance court after my birth but he never paid it throughout my entire life. He died from COVID in 2021 and his estate has been left with his wife, and a child of the wife's. My mother lost her job during COVID and life has been extremely tough on us since then, making it hard for us to survive, which Is how I needed up relying on nsfas and giving to live with a family member. According to social media posts I have seen from my father's other child, the estate is being mismanaged. I'm considering finding a way to move out of my family member's house because it's hard living here due to many issues that are way too long to explain on here, and I cannot possibly live in a student accommodation as it would exceed the NSFAS cap and I would not be able to pay off any debt that have at the end of my degree. I've been considering applying for child maintenance from my father's estate to get out of this mess, but I don't know how that will work. My father lived and operated all of his businesses in Limpopo while I'm in the eastern Cape. Would this be possible as I am now 20 years old, and would it interfere in any way with my funding from NSFAS?

I'm not trying to benefit off of his death but I honestly can't suffer like this knowing that there are some funds which could possibly save me from this situation.

TIA for any advice. I'm willing to share any additional details which could help with advising me