We recently conferred with a client of the Senior Rights Legal Clinic in relation to a case of financial abuse of the elderly.
Our client asserts that, after she was evicted from her property by her daughter-in-law in mid to late 2009, she discovered:
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Her eldest son and her daughter-in-law had initially effected a series of transactions which had diminished her interest in her previously unencumbered property; and
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Her interest in her property had eventually been transferred to her granddaughter for grossly insufficient consideration which she never received.
We are instructed our client’s eldest son, our client’s daughter-in-law and our client’s granddaughter effected these transactions by fraud, undue influence and/or unconscionable conduct in that they forged documents, made threats and preyed on our client’s lack of understanding of the English language and our client’s age. Our 85 year old client is Greek speaking.
We lodged a Caveat over our client’s property. In the Caveat, we asserted our client’s granddaughter held our client’s property on trust for our client because it was transferred to our client’s granddaughter as a result of unconscionable conduct and for no or for grossly inadequate consideration.
We also forwarded a letter of demand to our client’s granddaughter in which we requested our client’s granddaughter repay all amounts owing to ANZ Banking Group which are secured by a mortgage over our client’s property and, thereafter, transfer clear title to the property to our client.
We have now been instructed to issue legal proceedings against our client’s granddaughter and we are in the process of doing so.