A Ten Minute Rule Bill put to Parliament in November outlined the need for legislation to close loopholes that allow fraudsters to dupe susceptible people into marriage or civil partnership for their wealth.
It was prompted by the growing number of elderly people with dementia who ‘fall victim to scammers’ and get married to them, thereby making void their will and disinheriting their families.
Marrying into money
The MP Fabian Hamilton, promoter of the Bill, recounted how the mother of one of his constituents had married at the age of 91 to someone who had appeared to have engineered the relationship for capital gain. The constituent said she did not know that her mother, who suffered from vascular dementia, had married the man until after her death, and was not sure her mother was aware of it either. As soon as the mother remarried, the mother’s will was declared null and void, leaving the family with no recourse on her estate. The constituent, who previously had power of attorney over her mother’s affairs, did not realise this was the case. Mr Fabian said such cases were becoming known as ‘predatory marriages’ and his Bill would go some way to avoid them taking place.
