Daphne Franks' mother, who had vascular dementia and terminal cancer, befriended a much younger man who secretly married her. When she died, he inherited everything because an English marriage* immediately cancels any previous wills. The daughter never knew about the marriage so was unable to stop it.
Which got me wondering on what grounds you can annul a marriage, as that is one possible solution.
An English marriage is automatically void if:
- you're closely related to the other person
- one or both of you were under 16
- one of you was already married or in a civil partnership
- it wasn't sexually consummated (doesn't apply to same-sex couples)
- you didn't properly consent - for example you were forced into it
- you were unable to consent because of a lack of mental capacity
- your spouse had a sexually transmitted disease when you married
- your spouse was pregnant by someone else when you married
- your spouse is transitioning to the opposite sex
Daphne Franks is also campaigning for a change in the law to stop a marriage cancelling a previous will.
But what a terrible end to her mother's life.
*but not in Scotland
**you have to apply to a divorce court for a declaration that the marriage is void
Pic: Daphne Franks and her mother Joan Blass
PS: I've been in touch with Daphne through Facebook and she says "Fabian Hamilton MP asked Boris Johnson what he was going to do about it in Prime Minister's Questions on 9 June 2021. Change is now on the way I'm pleased to say but don't know the details yet!"
