An elderly couple who fell in love and eloped while living in a nursing home had their marriage annulled yesterday despite their pleas to remain wed. A Vista Superior Court commissioner ruled that the two-year-old marriage was invalid, agreeing with the man's sons that he wasn't mentally competent to consent to marriage.
Herbert Woodward II, 88, and Wani Bielinski, 86, wanted to stay married. Woodward's family filed the case to annul the marriage, saying he wasn't acting in his best interest, and that the family trust needed to be protected.
Bielinski and Woodward were not in the courtroom and were told of the ruling by family members. Bielinski said she and Woodward are shocked and angered by the decision.
Woodward's family, which has legal guardianship and conservatorship over him, instructed the nursing home not to allow him to speak to the media.
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Court sides with law over love - Elderly couple's marriage annulled
Herbert Woodward II, 88, and Wani Bielinski, 86, wanted to stay married. Woodward's family filed the case to annul the marriage, saying he wasn't acting in his best interest, and that the family trust needed to be protected.
Bielinski and Woodward were not in the courtroom and were told of the ruling by family members. Bielinski said she and Woodward are shocked and angered by the decision.
Woodward's family, which has legal guardianship and conservatorship over him, instructed the nursing home not to allow him to speak to the media.
Full Article and Source:
Court sides with law over love - Elderly couple's marriage annulled
4 comments:
Once again, the wishes of the ward are discarded like trash.
Whether or not the man was legally able to enter into the contract of marriage should not be foremost in anyone's mind.
Guardianship is supposed to be in the ward's best interest -- is it not in the ward's best interest to be happy?
For shame!
Two years of their lives wiped away with the stroke of a judge's pen.
All for money....shame!
If Herbert was poor, his children might wish him and his new bride the best of luck. The marriage might even hit the media! It is easy to tell when an elderly has money because the children always step in and declare that the person does not have the mental capacity to make his or her own decision, even if it leads to bringing them a little happiness in their old age.
I strongly disagree with this decision.
I think this is a very sad situation when older folks are disgregarded when they are denied their wishes for companionship and happiness at the end stages of their lives by a judge.
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