I read this Guardian article today and found it shocking - "Her daughter says Joan Blass was 87 and had dementia when a man befriended her, then married her quietly, inherited her estate when she died – and buried her in an unmarked grave. Now Franks works tirelessly to make such marriages a crime" - I suggest reading it in full.
www.theguardian.com/society/2021/sep/15/daphne-franks-the-woman-who-lost-her-much-loved-mother-to-a-predatory-marriage
I guess I was shocked that they could get married with no questions, particularly where that automatically invokes a legal change (to her will). And that there seems to be a playbook for frauds to do this.
Anyone familiar with this area? Would her proposals - to stop marriage automatically revoking a will (in England) - have any negative consequences? Could these people still get away with it by persuading them to change their wills (I'm not too knowledgeable about POA etc)?
A snippet:
Folan, who was 24 years younger than Blass, quickly became a constant presence. He was always around, his belongings scattered through Blass’s house, although Franks says Blass could never remember his name – she always called him “Laddo”. Sometimes, Franks says, her mother would ask her: “Who is he?” and: “Where did he come from?” Once, she asked: “Did you get him for me?”
“That’s the one that really broke my heart,” says Franks. “She thought he was some sort of care worker.”