SHE HAS MADE HIM CHANGE HIS WILL

We are a small group of pensioners who enjoy a glass or two of wine together. We are all incredibly worried about one of the men. His wife died a little while ago. A former colleague makes his life unbearable and has even forced him to write a will, leaving his house and all his money to her, despite him having two sons of his own. She treats him like a slave, demanding he shops each day and delivers it to her home. She has made him pay for holidays for herself, her husband and children. She has threatened to burn his house down if she finds him associating with anyone. She constantly phones to check that he has not gone out and scratched his car when she thought he had. He is terrified of her, but we don’t know why she has such a hold over him. His only respite is the couple of hours a week with us, but he is on edge all the time in case she finds out and makes his life more miserable. He refuses to change his will or take out a restraining order because of the repercussions. This woman is terrorising your friend and he needs your support. I have contacted the local police in your area – they were very understanding and outraged by this woman’s behaviour and want to help. So please encourage him to call them on 101, ask for his local crime bureau and give them the details of the woman who is threatening him. You should also encourage him to ask his solicitor to change his will again so that his sons inherit his estate. I am sure they could help support their father too. On no account should he tell this woman that he has changed his will – that way, she will not find out until after he has died and won’t be able to hurt him. She would be unlikely to contest the will as she is not family and he only changed it under huge pressure from her. He could also leave a letter with his solicitor saying how terrified he is of her and that he does not want to leave her anything. Either friends from your group or his sons could be with him when he rings the police and if he needs to go to see them. He could also talk to Victim Support (victimsupport.org.uk, 0808 168 9111).