Do you know anything about the island of Saba?

Question

My grandmother was born and raised there. She likely still owns land- her father left his property to his heirs and the will never went through probate, so the property is still in his name. Anyone familiar with this process, specifically on Saba or in Dutch law? I am familiar with the process in the States, but not on Saba.

Answer 1

It's an island in Malaysia. This is a matter of Malaysian law. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabah

http://www.sabahtourism.com/en/

Answer 2

Saba is NOT in malaysia.. it's a small island in the Dutch West Indies.  It was made famous by the comic strip character "The Phantom"... it's a great island with no harbor so ships don't go there on a regular basis.

Answer 3

Just did a search for "Saba" and got many leads, one of which is sabatourism.com.  There is probably an official government website which might give you a lead for your legal question.

Answer 4

I had a good friend from Saba that I unfortunantly lost touch with...  (Tara H. if you ever read this, gimme a shout eh...)

Saba is a fairly mountainous island in the Caribbean Sea...  It is true that it is a part of the Dutch Caribbean (Netherlands)...  

The Dutch have 5 main islands in the Netherlands Antilles. (There is also Aruba which is "Status Apart" from the main Netherlands Antilles). Saba,  St. Maarten & St. Eustatius (Statia) are in the northern part of the Caribbean while the "A-B-C islands" Aruba, Bonare & Curacao are in the southern part close to South America....

Saba as I was told, doesn't have a lot of beaches and the island is really known for a climb you must make up from the the Sea.. The towns there actually have some interesting names, such as a town there called h**l's Gate, and another called I think The Bottom (which is fairly close down to the water.) From there you need to continue your trek *up* the island.... Saba is mostly known for a university they have there I think at www.saba.edu it used to be saba.org I think???

In many Caribbean islands you cannot just leave land alone and expect to still own it.  Esp. if you stop paying taxes on it.

Some Caribbean islands have what are called Squatter's Rights laws-- whereas If someone is on your property for a number of years (about 7 years or so) and if they aren't paying you to be there they can in many cases consider the land to be unclaimed/or vacant and they can form a claim to own it themselves....

If you goto Saba and find someone living on your land e.g. they built a house and everything and have been there for like 10 years or so it might be likely that you can't claim that land anymore. I will say I don't know exactly the law in the dutch islands but in the English speaking ones if you find someone on your land you either have to start charging them quickly, give them notice to vacate fast, or--- you have to bulldoze their house and put their things on the side of the road unless you want people to be able to own all your land...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatter#Ne...