Maid married 101-year-old man ‘to snare £1.7m fortune’

THE heirs of a 101-year-old Portuguese man have accused their father’s 52-year-old carer of marrying him in order to gain his valuable estate.

Francisco Marcolino married Rita Monteiro, who has been the family maid for the past three decades, at a register office on May 4.

Three of Mr Marcolino’s four children have filed a lawsuit to annul the marriage on the grounds of incapacity, claiming their father has dementia. “If he had wanted to marry again he would have done so a long time ago, before he became totally incapacitated,” said one son, Manuel Marcolino de Jesus.

The siblings argue that Ms Monteiro has taken advantage of their father’s weakened state in order to inherit his fortune, which the family calculates to be around £1.7million.

“He is not in any condition to take any decisions. He cannot even speak,” said Mr Marcolino de Jesus.

Ms Monteiro was hired as a maid by Manuel Marcolino’s first wife shortly before she died 28 years ago.

“They have lived together in [Ms Monteiro’s] house since he became incapable five years ago, and that is when she started to take over completely,” said Mr Marcolino de Jesus.

He said that the three children – one of whom is a judge – had reported their father’s carer for criminal abuse of trust last December after more than €500,000 (£430,000) was taken from his bank accounts. It is believed the case is still being investigated. Ms Monteiro has not commented publicly.