Loophole that lets predators marry the vulnerable – and steal their family’s inheritance
DEMENTIA sufferers are being preyed on by callous crooks who befriend and then coerce them into marriage so they can automatically inherit their money when they die.
The cruel tricksters pose as caring friends to take advantage of a legal loophole that can allow them to completely disinherit their victim’s loving family. The moment they are married, any previous will that would have passed on an inheritance to children and grandchildren becomes invalid. The predatory trickster inherits most, if not all, of a financial legacy under the laws of intestacy – the set of rules followed when a person dies without a will.
Vulnerable individuals – often widows and widowers – may be incapable of understanding the financial consequences of marrying again. Some are even unaware they have done so.
The problem is so serious that families, lawyers and politicians are fighting for changes in the law to safeguard the ever growing number of dementia sufferers – in a campaign now backed by The Mail on Sunday. Labour MP Fabian Hamilton has introduced a private member’s Bill seeking to protect vulnerable adults entering a marriage contract. The Bill is due to get its second reading next month.
Hamilton’s call for change comes after he learned of the distressing fate of former constituent Joan Blass who died nearly three years ago. She was a 91-year-old widow with severe dementia who ended up marrying a self-appointed live-in carer 23 years her junior.
Only after Joan’s death in 2016 did her family discover she had married. This meant the will that Joan had created while of sound mind in 2004 was no longer valid. Instead she was deemed to have died without a will – resulting in her new husband being the beneficiary of her £210,000 estate rather than her two children.
Last week, Joan’s daughter Daphne Franks, 62, told The Mail on Sunday the family had endured a ‘hideous’ ordeal. She was close to her mother both emotionally and physically – they lived in neighbouring homes in Leeds. Daphne, a university teacher, even held power of attorney which gave her legal authority to act on her mother’s financial behalf. But this was of no use when it came to preventing the marriage or preserving Joan’s original wishes.
Daphne says: ‘My mum’s partner described himself as her carer but he was just a man who moved into her house. He has made a lot of money as a result.’ She adds: ‘It sounds farfetched but our awful situation is not a one-off. Grooming of the elderly is happening more than people realise. Unless we get the law changed this problem will get worse.’
The Mail on Sunday has now learned of other similarly worrying cases.
This includes a man in his eighties with severe dementia – who had lost the capacity even to speak – getting married to a partner.
A first attempt by the partner to wed was thwarted by the man’s son from his first marriage, whom he managed to phone. Days later, a second attempt was successful. As a result, his will was revoked and his new wife became the main beneficiary of his estate.
In another case, a dementia-sufferer was whisked away to New Zealand by his partner to be married without his family’s knowledge or blessing.
Alistair Spencer works for law firm Shakespeare Martineau. He says: ‘I have come across situations like this a few times, where a younger person manages to marry someone with dementia and then inherit their estate.’ He adds: ‘Unless a formal capacity assessment has been conducted by a medical professional, a person is assumed to have the capacity to enter a marriage.’ Spencer says one case he worked on involved a woman who held such sway over her partner that she managed to prevent a professional assessment of his mental capacity taking place. She distanced him from his family and married him. Spencer’s firm managed to get the will overturned.
Arshoo Singh, from law firm Blake Morgan, says: ‘Many people don’t realise that when someone gets married an existing will is automatically revoked.’ She assisted the children of an 81-yearold man with dementia who were trying to prevent a marriage to his 60-year-old
partner. The pair met when she became his professional carer.
Singh says: ‘Even though his Alzheimer’s had progressed, he passed the test for entering a marriage. But when the psychiatrist asked about his will, he forgot he had one and became confused about his finances.’
His relatives did accept the couple were in a genuine relationship and that she took care of their father. But they applied to the Court of Protection for a ‘statutory will’, which allows families to make a will on behalf of someone who is mentally unable to act themselves.
Ultimately it was agreed the children would still inherit but a portion of wealth would also be reserved for the new wife.
Singh adds: ‘Don’t leave these issues until after someone has died. It becomes harder to sort out and the costs are high. I see how painful these cases are both financially and emotionally.’ MP Hamilton is asking for four crucial changes to the law.
First, that marriage does not automatically revoke a will. Second, better training and more robust procedures for registrars performing a wedding so they spot any warning signs. Thirdly for questionnaires to establish both parties have the capacity to enter a marriage. Finally, for notices of upcoming marriages to be published on the internet.