Is this person just trying to get her hands on lady's inheritance?
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Why would it be fraud? The elderly lady is being helped in her own home, and has been for years. She's clearly happy with the situation. The visiting person has been helping her for years, for no payment. Even if she were to inherit, why on earth shouldn't she?
If the elderly lady were paying each time she visited would people have a problem with that? Is it just the thought of her receiving some payment after death that's the issue?0 -
But that's a very big 'if'.it definitely doesn't hurt to investigate
Whilst it is up to the old lady whom she gives inheritance to, if the younger lady is helping with intention of gain, its deception or maybe fraud, although it would be pretty hard to prove, and even then it needs someone to make the claim for charges to commence
Hard one to prove, the younger lady could be genuine, but i know of someone that did something similar, so it can happen
If the circumstances were different e.g. if the OP was the old lady's niece or nephew and has serious concerns based on fact or if the old lady herself had expressed concerns to the OP (gardener) then my response would be very different.
I think it possible can hurt to investigate.
The OP may be maligning a perfectly decent, caring woman which may result in depriving an old lady of a good friend when she really needs it.0 -
Also, a woman who is now in her 90s would have left school well before Hitler died.
She said she was in high school when Hitler died. "Hochschule" translates literally as "high school" but actually means higher education in Germany, covering both university (Universität) and polytechnics (Fachhochschule). It's entirely plausible that a woman in her 90s would have been at Hochschule when Hitler died, when she was in her late teens or early 20s.
The theory that Hitler wasn't responsible for the Holocaust is nonsense but I wouldn't call it crazy. We all know that Hitler authorised the genocide but the fact that he left it to Heinrich Himmler to actually instruct the Nazi leadership gives people enough room to indulge in Holocaust Denial Lite. I expect a lot of elderly Germans hold on to similar beliefs to help them sleep at night.
The reason I say this is because I see no reason in the OP's post to believe that this old lady does not have capacity to look after her own affairs. So if she wants to leave money to her friends, instead of some nephews or in-laws (not that we have any evidence of what's actually in her Will), it's a free country. (Subject to the provisions of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act.)
Does the OP want to live in a world where people are afraid to befriend or help out an elderly person in case some curtain-twitcher who thinks they're after her inheritance calls Elder Abuse on them? And why shouldn't she leave them her inheritance if she wants to?0 -
if the younger lady is helping with intention of gain, its deception or maybe fraud
I'm afraid that's complete nonsense. If I buy someone a beer because I hope that when we finish it he'll buy me one, but I don't tell him this beforehand, it's not fraud.
If I help an elderly person in the home because I hope that they'll leave me their inheritance, but don't tell them so, that's not fraud either.
If I draw up a Will which names me as the sole benefactor and thrust a pen into their hand and apply intense psychological pressure to get them to sign, then get it properly witnessed... it may be morally wrong but it's probably still not fraud. The burden of proof to show that a Will was signed under duress is very high. Unless I'm holding a gun to her head, or the lady in question has lost mental capacity and has no idea what's going on (and as previously discussed there's no reason to think that is the case), the law says that she was free to refuse and the Will is valid.
Yes, it can hurt to investigate, a lot. It could deprive the lady in question of valuable help and friendship. An investigation by the State and the threat of police action is enough to make anyone think twice about doing something charitable.0 -
Malthusian wrote: »She said she was in high school when Hitler died. "Hochschule" translates literally as "high school" but actually means higher education in Germany, covering both university (Universität) and polytechnics (Fachhochschule). It's entirely plausible that a woman in her 90s would have been at Hochschule when Hitler died, when she was in her late teens or early 20s.
That's interesting, thanks for that. Yes, she could well have been at university then (I was taking it to mean high school in the sense of up to 18).
Regardless of that though, it does read as if the OP has included it as a sign that she isn't of sound mind which doesn't seem the case at all. It's not even clear if the OP has ever actually spoken to her directly, or if all of this is coming from a disgruntled former employee (the cleaner).0 -
All this reminds me of the time when I was doing my family tree and I discovered that living quite close to me was a third cousin on a branch of the tree that I was having particular trouble researching because the name is very common.
I knew I had the right person but he was 90 and lived alone and I was worried that by writing to him to ask for information it would be mis-construed so I ummed and aahed for a few months before putting together a letter with copies of a few birth and marriage certificates and a copy of my tree asking if he could help me with my research.
I received no reply for over a year and then a letter came:
Dear Mrs. Pimento
I'm sorry for taking so long to reply to your letter.
I'm a 91 year old single man who has recently made a will totally in favour of a local animal charity. However, if you are still think I can be of assistance to you, you may call upo me this Saturday afternoon at 4pm.
It turned out that he was immensely helpful and I still laugh when I think of his reply to me."If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." -- Red Adair0 -
applepicker wrote: »I live in a town on the South Coast and I do gardening in a rich part of the town. This old woman (90) has a bungalow and it's probably worth £500,000. I have worked there for 5 years and in that whole time this woman (mid-late 50) a school TA has been coming round and seeing her. Apparently she takes no money and looks after her. All the neighbours think she's a carer, but she doesn't get any money. They first met a few years ago when she and her husband did gardening for her. I think she just tried this when her kids grew up and she wanted a job, she's now a teaching assistant in a school. She has never been very friendly to me and was always in conflict with another lady who worked there before and did the cleaning. The cleaner said she was a stirrer and conniving. Recently she came out of hospital and I went around to collect some money for sorting out the bins. She marched up the drive didn't say hello to me which is normal and said to the carers I am the next of kin. She seems to be trying to control everything about the lady's life. The old lady thinks she's wonderful and keeps saying she's the best friend ever- goes to her bed in hospital etc She says she's teacher and ex-nurse etc etc Her husband who is also wonderful according to her does her accounts and manages her money. The ex-cleaner who got sick of it all and quit told me the old lady was always talking about who was on the will etc The old lady seems a bit nuts to me. For example, she's German and actually met Hitler. She said to me she was told in high school that Hitler killed himself when he heard about all the Jews being gassed and couldn't live with himself and that it was the men who surrounded Hitler who were responsible for it. She still absolutely believes that lol, After hearing this and other crazy things I think she's quite gullible.
Have I got this wrong, is the lady in her 50s whole friendship based on her getting the inheritance? Will she definitely get it? Apparently, the German lady has a nephew in Germany, she also has a genuine friend (another old lady) who lives down the road. Her husband who was rich and had all the money (is dead) has lots of nephews and nieces.
Maybe the lady in her 50s is suspicious of you - and suspects that you have designs on the money of the lady in her 90s! Suspicions work both ways.0 -
Not much you can do unless you suspect some kind of abuse, last time I check there was no law against having friends.0
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Oh, dear. We are very friendly with our 88 year old neighbour, doing odd jobs for her etc. Yesterday we drove 15 miles to pick her up.
I hope her gardener doesn't think we're after her money!Member #14 of SKI-ers club
Words, words, they're all we have to go by!.
(Pity they are mangled by this autocorrect!)0 -
Also, a woman who is now in her 90s would have left school well before Hitler died.
I'm trying to do the maths. Hitler shot himself 72 years ago. If the lady's in her 90s she could have met him.
OP I think you might be better off keeping out of this one, unless you have reason to suspect elder abuse.It is not because things are difficult that we dare not venture
It is because we dare not venture that they are difficult
SENECA0
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