The document made no mention of 82-year-old Lourdes de Lara Ty, mother of Margaret and another son, Anthony, who is now based in the United States. Unlike the 78-year-old Mary Vy Ty who had been favored by the late tycoon’s parents, Lourdes is not of Chinese descent.
Armed with the late tycoon’s last will and testament, Mary Vy Ty filed with the Regional Trial Court of Makati on Dec. 12, 2018, a petition for the probate of the will and her appointment as the administrator of Ty’s estate.
Probate refers to the process of establishing the validity of the will.
Mary Vy Ty’s petition estimated the estate of the late tycoon at P3 billion. The tycoon had founded or put up local banking giant Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Toyota Motor Philippines and Federal Land, among others.
Most of the family’s crown jewels are now under listed holding firm GT Capital Holdings Inc.
Jose Virgilio Bautista, legal counsel of Lourdes de Lara Ty, said in an interview with the Inquirer that Lourdes and the late George SK Ty were married on Nov. 14, 1961, in Hong Kong.
He also disputed Mary Vy Ty’s reference to Anthony and Margaret as “illegitimate” children. This marriage was subsisting when another subsequent marriage to petitioner Mary Vy was entered into, making the latter void.
Under the law, therefore Lourdes de Lara Ty is the surviving spouse of the late George and as such is entitled to her conjugal share of the estate and to her legitime as compulsory heir in the hereditary estate,” he claimed.