The will of a man who married his carer less than a year before he died and left everything to her has been set aside after his daughter challenged its validity.
The man was 93 years old when he married his carer, who was then aged 54. Following the marriage, he made a will leaving his entire estate, which was worth about £680,000, to her. He died two months after the will was made.
His daughter claimed that his carer had lured him into a predatory marriage. Giving evidence, she said that there had never been any doubt that she would inherit her parents' estate, and that her father had been so frail that he could not even stand for a photo on the day of the wedding. She contested the will on the grounds of lack of testamentary capacity, lack of knowledge and approval, and undue influence.
The judge noted medical evidence that the man had suffered from paranoid delusional disorder. His condition caused him to hold false beliefs, including that he was estranged from his daughter. He therefore lacked testamentary capacity to make the will. The judge also found that, on the evidence, it could not be said that he knew and approved of its contents.
In also finding that the will was procured by undue influence, the judge concluded that the carer had had a pervasive control over the man's finances, and had exercised a 'guiding hand' in 'shopping around' before finding a will writer who was prepared to draft the will.
Although the daughter succeeded in her claim, the marriage could not be annulled posthumously. The carer will therefore inherit £270,000 plus half of the man's remaining estate under the laws of intestacy.