True love or greed?

CARING: Keith and Winifred Hardie, who married months before he died

Was it love or did Winifred Jansen marry the sickly octogenarian she had been hired to look after for his money?

That's what the Cape Town High Court must decide after a Cape Town family applied to have the marriage ruled invalid.
Jansen, 74, wed prominent University of Cape Town academic Professor Keith Hardie, who suffered from dementia and Parkinson's Disease, in December 2013 - five years after she was hired to care for him.
They were married in community of property at the Mitchells Plain Home Affairs office.
A month later, the family learned of the marriage when FNB's risk management unit alerted them that R200,000 had been withdrawn from Hardie's account.

Four months later, on May 19 last year, 85-year-old Hardie died at his Marina da Gama home, which he shared with Winifred, leaving his family bickering over his estate.
Winifred said outside court yesterday that she and Hardie "naturally fell in love" three weeks after she was hired as his caregiver in October 2008.
Hardie's first wife, Gwendoline, died in February that year.
"We were happy together; he kissed me in front of everyone and he wanted to show the world that I was his wife," said Winifred.
"Our marriage was very special. He gave me his mother's ring as my wedding ring."

She rubbished claims that she had coerced Hardie into marrying her, saying they had lived together for more than five years before they tied the knot.
In a 26-page affidavit, Hardie's daughter, Diana, said the family wanted the marriage invalidated.
She claims Winfred tried to cash in on some of Hardie’s investments. This, she said, prompted the family to seek a court order to freeze Hardie's FNB and Investec Bank accounts last year.

She said Winifred had "never been presented as anything other than a carer and employee and never as our father's partner or 'common-law wife' as she now seems to claim, even during the time that he was less physically and mentally frail".
"It is our view that he was induced into such marriage by [Winifred] and had no mental capacity to appreciate the nature of such contract," the affidavit said.
Judge Patricia Goliath postponed the matter to allow Winifred's lawyers time to file opposing papers

Source- Times