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As an only child, Jill Langley had every reason to believe she would inherit her elderly, widowed father’s £1mn fortune. But she had to go to court to secure even a slice of his money in a case involving a carer, a new marriage and a fresh will.
作为独生女，吉尔•兰利(Jill Langley)完全有理由相信她会继承年迈丧偶父亲的100万英镑遗产。然而，她不得不诉诸法庭，在一个涉及护理人员、新婚姻和新遗嘱的案件中，才能争取到父亲遗产的一部分。
Robert Harrington, from Norfolk, died in May 2020, aged 94, having married his carer, Guixiang Qin, a woman 39 years his junior, the year before. According to court documents, in a will made two months before his death, Harrington left everything to Qin and nothing to Langley, the beneficiary of the previous will.
来自诺福克的罗伯特•哈灵顿(Robert Harrington)于2020年5月去世，享年94岁。前一年，他与比自己小39岁的护理员秦桂香(Guixiang Qin)结婚。根据法庭文件，在去世前两个月立下的遗嘱中，哈灵顿将所有财产留给了秦桂香，而没有留给前一份遗嘱的受益人兰利。
Langley challenged the new will and, in June 2024, a judge found in her favour, ruling that Qin had exerted “undue influence” over a “vulnerable elderly man” who had lacked the capacity to make a will.
兰利对新遗嘱提出了质疑，并在2024年6月，一名法官裁定支持她的主张，认为秦桂香对一位“缺乏立遗嘱能力的脆弱老人”施加了“不当影响”。
The law is outdated. It’s making a mockery out of marriage, morals and decency’
这项法律已经过时，正在嘲弄婚姻、道德和体面。
But Qin still benefited from the arrangement. As the court had set aside the will, Harrington in effect died without one, so his assets were divided through a formula for no-will deaths, called intestacy, under which an estate is split between a spouse and children, with the spouse getting the largest share. Qin told the FT through her lawyer that her marriage, which was “nothing but loving and real”, had not been challenged in court. She said she was appealing against the judgment on the will.
但秦桂香仍然从这一安排中受益。由于法院撤销了遗嘱，哈灵顿实际上是在没有遗嘱的情况下去世的，因此他的资产根据无遗嘱死亡的分配公式进行分配，称为法定继承，其中遗产在配偶和子女之间分配，配偶获得最大份额。秦桂香通过她的律师告诉英国《金融时报》，她的婚姻“充满爱和真实”，并未在法庭上受到质疑。她表示，她正在对遗嘱的判决提出上诉。
Langley, now 71, said: “The law is outdated. It’s making a mockery out of marriage, morals and decency.”
现年71岁的兰利说：“这项法律已经过时了。它让婚姻、道德和体面变得可笑。”
The arguments highlight the mental capacity rules for marriage and for wills. An elderly person suffering from serious dementia cannot normally write a valid will.
这些论点强调了婚姻和遗嘱的精神能力规则。患有严重痴呆症的老年人通常无法立下有效的遗嘱。
But, if they are single or widowed, they can often get married, as the mental capacity legally required for marriage is much lower.
但是，如果他们是单身或丧偶，他们通常可以结婚，因为法律上对结婚所需的心智能力要求较低。
And fair enough, you might think. Who is to judge what’s going on in another person’s heart, even when they’re 90? It’s never too late to find happiness, people say, or to discover it anew.
你可能会觉得这很合理。谁能评判别人的内心世界，即使他们已经90岁了？人们常说，找到幸福或重新发现幸福永远不嫌晚。
But there is a big financial complication. A marriage or civil partnership immediately revokes almost any previous will. Without need of a new will, marriage creates a fresh financial settlement — one which normally leaves a lot, if not everything, to the new spouse.
但存在一个重大的财务问题。结婚或民事伴侣关系会立即废除几乎所有先前的遗嘱。在没有新遗嘱的情况下，婚姻会自动产生一个新的财务安排——通常会将大部分财产，甚至可能是全部财产，留给新配偶。
That in turn generates incentives for vulnerable people to come under undue influence to enter into what has come to be called “predatory marriage”. The heirs of well-off old folk have worried about this risk for years. So have lawyers acting for wealthy families.
这反过来又促使脆弱的人群受到不当影响，进入所谓的“掠夺性婚姻”。富裕老人的继承人多年来一直担心这种风险。为富裕家庭代理的律师也是如此。
But the fears have mushroomed since the pandemic, which saw a jump in life-threatening illnesses and deaths — and in will-writing, sometimes carried out in difficult if not chaotic conditions.
但自疫情以来，这种担忧迅速增加，因为疫情导致危及生命的疾病和死亡人数激增，同时遗嘱的撰写也有所增加，有时是在困难甚至混乱的情况下进行的。
“Covid placed a huge obstacle to ensuring that a testator had capacity and was not being influenced to make a will,” says Sally Ashford, a partner at solicitors Charles Russell Speechlys. “It is likely that we will see many more claims against wills which were made during the [pandemic] period.”
“新冠疫情对确保立遗嘱人具有能力且未受到影响而立遗嘱构成了巨大障碍，”查尔斯•罗素•斯皮奇利律师事务所(Charles Russell Speechlys)的合伙人莎莉•阿什福德(Sally Ashford)说，“我们很可能会看到更多针对疫情期间所立遗嘱的索赔。”
Not before time, the government is considering reforming the law in England and Wales (Scottish law is different). The Law Commission, a statutory advisory body, is preparing proposals that it expects to publish early this year in which it will call for either scrapping the automatic revocation of a will by marriage, or for maintaining the status quo.
政府终于开始考虑改革英格兰和威尔士的法律。法律委员会(The Law Commission)作为一个法定咨询机构，正在准备提案，预计将在今年初发布。提案将呼吁废除婚姻自动撤销遗嘱的规定，或维持现状。
If the commission goes for change — as many lawyers expect — the government would have to agree and find time for legislation. Moreover, any reform would most likely not be retrospective: disputes stemming from the Covid years would still be handled under existing laws. Fabian Hamilton, a Labour MP campaigning for reform, says there is widespread concern in parliament over predatory marriage. “Many colleagues have reported cases. It’s cross party.”
如果委员会决定进行改革——正如许多律师所预期的那样——政府将需要同意并为立法腾出时间。此外，任何改革很可能不会具有追溯效力：源于新冠疫情期间的纠纷仍将根据现行法律处理。工党议员法比安•汉密尔顿(Fabian Hamilton)正在为改革进行宣传，他表示，议会对掠夺性婚姻存在广泛关注。“许多同事都报告了相关案例。这是跨党派的。”
Concerns about vulnerable people falling prey to exploitative relationships have been growing for years. Extended life expectancy has boosted the numbers surviving into old age with illnesses impairing mental capacity. According to the Alzheimer’s Society, nearly 1mn Britons suffer from dementia, including one in 11 of the over-65s.
多年来，人们对弱势群体容易陷入剥削性关系的担忧不断增加。延长的预期寿命使得更多人带着影响精神能力的疾病活到老年。根据阿尔茨海默氏症协会(Alzheimer’s Society)的数据，近100万英国人患有痴呆症，其中包括每11位65岁以上老人中的一位。
This generation of elderly is the richest ever, leaving plenty for potential heirs to dispute. Meanwhile, families are becoming more fluid as people change jobs, homes and partners more frequently, leaving older relatives more likely to be living without close family contact.
这一代老年人是有史以来最富有的一代，留下了大量遗产供潜在继承人争夺。同时，随着人们更频繁地更换工作、住所和伴侣，家庭关系变得更加松散，老年亲属更有可能在没有亲密家庭联系的情况下生活。
It’s important to emphasise that most carers do a difficult job well. Age UK, the charity, notes they offer not just practical assistance but also emotional support, sometimes filling a void left by family members who may lack time or resources for frequent visits.
重要的是要强调，大多数护理人员都能出色地完成艰难的工作。慈善机构Age英国指出，他们不仅提供实际帮助，还提供情感支持，有时填补了家人因缺乏时间或资源而无法频繁探访所留下的空白。
Closeness matters to humans, including in old age. And sometimes closeness — with a carer, for example, or a new friend — leads to romance. As Age UK says on its website: “Whether you’re separated, bereaved or have been single for some time, it’s never too late to start a new relationship.”
亲密对人类很重要，即使在老年也是如此。有时，亲密关系——例如与护理人员或新朋友的关系——会发展成浪漫关系。正如Age英国在其网站上所说：“无论您是分居、丧偶还是单身已久，开始一段新关系永远不会太晚。”
Marriages among those aged 65 and over rose 46 per cent in the decade to 2014 to 11,000 — according to the latest ONS data — far more than the 20 per cent increase in the overall 65-and-over population. The percentage of predatory marriages is likely to be very small. So family lawyers warn that any legal reforms should not over-interfere with a person’s right to wed.
根据最新的英国国家统计局(ONS)数据，在截至2014年的十年间，65岁及以上人群的结婚人数增加了46%，达到11,000人，远远超过65岁及以上人口整体增长的20%。掠夺性婚姻的比例可能非常小。因此，家庭律师警告说，任何法律改革都不应过度干涉个人的结婚权利。
The competence threshold for marriage is low so that, for example, young people with mental disabilities can tie the knot. The 2005 Mental Capacity Act says the person involved must understand what they are doing in getting married. Questions about a partner’s suitability are irrelevant — whatever relatives may think.
结婚的能力门槛较低，因此，有精神残疾的年轻人也可以结婚。2005年《心智能力法》(Mental Capacity Act)规定，结婚当事人必须理解他们在做什么。关于伴侣是否合适的问题是无关紧要的——无论亲属怎么想。
Covid placed a huge obstacle to ensuring a testator had capacity and was not being influenced to make a will
新冠疫情为确保立遗嘱人具有能力且未受影响地立遗嘱设置了巨大障碍
For wills, the competence test is tougher — so a person could get married without even understanding that they have a will. The test dates back to an 1870 case where the judge ruled that for a will to be valid the testator should understand the effect of making a will, the extent of their property and the claims of potential beneficiaries.
对于遗嘱，能力测试更为严格——因此，一个人可能在结婚时甚至不知道自己立有遗嘱。该测试可以追溯到1870年的一个案例，当时法官裁定，为了使遗嘱有效，立遗嘱人应理解立遗嘱的影响、其财产的范围以及潜在受益人的权利。
All well and good. But the rule was set down when the line between capacity and incapacity seemed clearer then than today, when more people are living long enough to suffer dementia. “Living in the twilight zone makes people vulnerable,” says Henrietta Mason, a senior counsel at solicitors Farrer & Co.
一切都很好。但是，这项规则是在能力与无能之间的界限比今天更清晰的时候制定的，而现在有更多的人活得足够长以至于患上痴呆症。Farrer & Co.律师事务所的高级法律顾问亨丽埃塔•梅森(Henrietta Mason)说：“生活在模糊地带使人们变得脆弱。”
In 1975, Lord Templeman, a future appeal judge, declared in court “one golden rule” for aged or sick testators — that a doctor should always be present at the will’s making.
1975年，未来的上诉法官坦普尔曼勋爵在法庭上宣布了一条针对年老或患病立遗嘱人的“黄金法则”——立遗嘱时医生应始终在场。
His (non-binding) rule is honoured more in the breach than the observance. Even Templeman himself made a will without a doctor at the age of 88. In an inheritance dispute following his 2014 death, the court ruled that the distinguished law lord had had the necessary capacity.
他的规则在违反时比遵守时更受尊重。就连坦普尔曼自己也在88岁时在没有医生的情况下立下了遗嘱。在他2014年去世后的一场遗产纠纷中，法院裁定这位杰出的法律大法官具备必要的能力。
Parliament has been sufficiently concerned about fraudsters to criminalise predatory marriage in a 2014 law on forced marriage (involving coercion) — making it illegal to ensnare into marriage someone lacking mental capacity, even without coercion.
议会对欺诈者的关注已达到足以在2014年的强迫婚姻法中将掠夺性婚姻定为犯罪的程度（涉及胁迫）——即使没有胁迫，也禁止将缺乏精神能力的人诱骗至婚姻中。
But, sufficient evidence is rarely available since wedding procedure rules — despite a recent overhaul — do not oblige those officiating, usually registrars or priests, to assess capacity rigorously. They are not trained to do so. There is also no requirement for verbatim records.
然而，由于婚礼程序规则——尽管最近进行了改革——并不要求主持婚礼的人（通常是登记员或牧师）严格评估当事人的能力，因此很少有足够的证据。他们没有接受过相关培训。此外，也没有逐字记录的要求。
Under the 1973 Matrimonial Causes Act, a marriage is void — treated as if it never existed — in rare circumstances, such as bigamy. A previous will is then not revoked — as there never was a valid marriage.
根据1973年《婚姻诉讼法》，在极少数情况下，例如重婚，婚姻被视为无效——就好像它从未存在过一样。在这种情况下，之前的遗嘱不会被撤销——因为从未有过有效的婚姻。
However, in cases when a person is found in court to have lacked the capacity to marry, the marriage is not called void but voidable. It is cancelled only from the moment a judge rules it so, without retrospective effect. Crucially, a will revoked by the now-voided marriage, remains revoked.
然而，当法院认定某人缺乏结婚能力时，婚姻被称为可撤销而非无效。婚姻仅从法官裁定之时起被取消，没有追溯效力。关键是，因婚姻被撤销而被撤销的遗嘱仍然保持撤销状态。
In theory, anyone concerned about a forthcoming marriage on capacity grounds can submit a caveat to the registrar — a letter explaining the circumstances, preferably with a doctor’s note. But this little-known rule is barely used: it was taken up just six times in 2023.
理论上，任何对即将到来的婚姻在能力方面有疑虑的人都可以向登记官提交告诫书——一封解释情况的信件，最好附上医生的证明。但这一鲜为人知的规定几乎没有被使用：在2023年仅被采用了六次。
There is also an official helpline. The Home Office says: “If individuals have concerns that one or both parties do not or cannot consent to the marriage, they should call the Forced Marriage Unit helpline.”
还有一个官方求助热线。内政部(Home Office)表示：“如果有人担心一方或双方不愿或无法同意结婚，他们应拨打强迫婚姻小组(Forced Marriage Unit)的求助热线。”
But predatory marriages often take place without the couple informing the family. Rules require forthcoming marriage announcements to be published, but normally only on paper via register office or church notice boards, which family members may never see. There is no searchable electronic database.
但掠夺性婚姻往往在夫妻未告知家人的情况下发生。规定要求即将举行的婚姻公告必须发布，但通常仅以纸质形式在登记处或教堂的公告板上发布，家人可能从未见过。没有可搜索的电子数据库。
Those who don’t know about a marriage obviously cannot challenge it. Worse, for anxious heirs, the law allows challenges to a marriage on capacity grounds to be made only before the vulnerable person dies.
显然，那些不了解婚姻情况的人无法对其提出质疑。更糟糕的是，对于焦虑的继承人来说，法律规定只能在脆弱者去世之前，以能力为由对婚姻提出质疑。
Before Covid, lawyers were split over scrapping the revocation rule. When the Law Commission surveyed professional opinion in 2017 it found that 60 per cent favoured the status quo. These experts said the current law gave due weight to the importance of marriage and that people generally wanted “their new spouse to inherit the majority or the entirety of their estate”.
在新冠疫情之前，律师们对废除撤销规则意见不一。法律委员会(Law Commission)在2017年调查专业意见时发现，60%的人倾向于维持现状。这些专家表示，现行法律对婚姻的重要性给予了应有的重视，人们普遍希望“他们的新配偶继承其大部分或全部遗产”。
Lawyers say the current law often works well in the case of working-age people entering a new relationship after a previous marriage — a much more common happening than old-age unions. It helps people to move on with their new spouses if the new marriage revokes a previous will.
律师表示，现行法律在适龄人群在结束前一段婚姻后进入新关系的情况下通常运作良好——这种情况比老年人结婚更为常见。如果新婚姻撤销了之前的遗嘱，这有助于人们与新配偶继续生活。
The main losers are the children of the first marriage who, under current law, lose their rights under the old will. (The ex-spouse is normally already cut out of the old will through the divorce settlement itself).
主要的受损者是第一次婚姻的子女，根据现行法律，他们在旧遗嘱中的权利会丧失。（前配偶通常已经通过离婚协议本身从旧遗嘱中被除名）。
If the law now changes, those first-marriage children would retain their rights under the old will — to the possible disadvantage of the new partner and any new children. But solicitors opposed to changing the revocation rule argue it is often the new family — frequently with younger children — that needs financial protection.
如果法律现在发生变化，那么第一段婚姻的子女将根据旧遗嘱保留他们的权利——这可能会对新伴侣和任何新生子女不利。但反对更改撤销规则的律师认为，通常是新家庭——尤其是有年幼子女的家庭——更需要财务保护。
The answer, lawyers say, is to write a will — a new one — if you remarry. You can, for example, pass your assets to your new partner for their lifetime and assign a share to your previous-marriage children that goes to them after the new partner’s death (if they die after you).
律师表示，答案是如果你再婚，就需要立一份新的遗嘱。例如，你可以在新伴侣的有生之年将资产传给他们，并在新伴侣去世后将一部分资产分配给你前一段婚姻的子女。
Fortunately, the law offers some comfort to those finding themselves on the wrong side of a testamentary settlement — under a 1975 law dependants can secure a limited amount for their financial needs.
幸运的是，法律为那些在遗嘱和解中处于不利地位的人提供了一些安慰——根据1975年的一项法律，受抚养人可以获得有限的金额来满足其经济需求。
How should you protect a vulnerable old person? A checklist:
Keep in touch with your old folk, even when they are in a comfortable care home. Loneliness can drive people to what others see as strange decisions.
Ensure that the power of attorney, which gives control of a vulnerable person’s affairs, is valid. But remember it doesn’t confer rights over marriage, not even a right to be informed.
Ensure the elderly person makes a will. If it’s too late, check the intestacy rules. If these do not address your situation, consider a statutory will, made in court — though this can be expensive.
If you hear the old person might be planning marriage, you can send the local registrar a letter to object. If the registrar accepts this caveat it will be circulated to other register offices. But, crucially, not to religious venues.
If you want a marriage voided on mental capacity grounds, move quickly as you normally won’t have a case if the person dies.
如何保护体弱的老人？以下是一个清单：
即使你的长辈住在舒适的养老院，也要保持联系。孤独可能会让人做出在他人看来奇怪的决定。
确保赋予对弱势人士事务控制权的授权书是有效的。但请记住，它并不授予婚姻方面的权利，甚至没有知情权。
确保老人立下遗嘱。如果为时已晚，请查看无遗嘱继承规则。如果这些规则无法解决您的情况，可以考虑在法院申请法定遗嘱——尽管这可能会很昂贵。
如果你听说那位老人可能正在计划结婚，你可以向当地登记官发送一封信表示反对。如果登记官接受了这个异议，它将被传达到其他登记处。但关键是，不会传达到宗教场所。
如果你想以精神能力为由使婚姻无效，请尽快行动，因为通常情况下，如果当事人去世，你将无法提出诉讼。
Lawyers say that since the pandemic, support for scrapping the automatic marriage-will link has grown following a surge in challenges to Covid era wills. “Opinion has shifted,” says Andrew Bishop, a partner at solicitors Rothley Law. The Law Commission says it is acting in response to “increasing concerns about what are often called ‘predatory marriages’”.
律师们表示，自新冠疫情以来，随着对疫情期间遗嘱的挑战激增，支持取消婚姻与遗嘱自动关联的呼声越来越高。Rothley法律师事务所的合伙人安德鲁•毕晓普(Andrew Bishop)说：“舆论已经发生了变化。”法律委员会表示，他们正在回应对所谓“掠夺性婚姻”的日益关注。
But even with reform, the law will struggle in cases where evidence is ambiguous and recollections differ, as Daphne Franks knows well.
但即使进行改革，在证据模糊和记忆不一致的情况下，法律仍会很难处理，正如达芙妮•弗兰克斯(Daphne Franks)深知的那样。
Franks’s widowed mother Joan Blass was befriended in 2011 at the age of 87 by Colman Folan, a man 24 years her junior. According to court documents, Folan won Blass’s confidence, moved into her house and became her carer, as she developed serious dementia.
弗兰克斯的寡母琼•布拉斯(Joan Blass)在2011年87岁时与比她小24岁的科尔曼•福兰(Colman Folan)成为朋友。根据法庭文件，福兰赢得了布拉斯的信任，搬进了她的房子，并在她患上严重痴呆症后成为她的看护人。
Franks, who lived with her husband next door to her mother and held a power of attorney, says she found herself frozen out of Blass’s life. It was only after Blass died in 2016, aged 91, that Franks learnt that Folan and Blass had married the previous October.
弗兰克斯与丈夫住在母亲隔壁，并持有授权书。她说自己发现被排除在布拉斯的生活之外。直到2016年布拉斯去世，享年91岁，弗兰克斯才得知福兰和布拉斯在前一年的10月结婚了。
Blass’s will was revoked and she died intestate. Franks and her brother lost not only a £200,000 inheritance but also control over funeral arrangements. “It was so distressing,” says Franks. She believes her mother “would have had no idea she was married”.
布拉斯的遗嘱被撤销，她在没有遗嘱的情况下去世。弗兰克斯和她的兄弟不仅失去了20万英镑的遗产，还失去了对葬礼安排的控制权。弗兰克斯说：“这太令人痛苦了。” 她认为她的母亲“根本不知道自己结了婚”。
Franks and her brother took Folan to court over the funeral question. The judge rejected suggestions that Folan had acted with fraudulent intent, aiming to secure the estate. He found in Folan’s favour, commenting on his “deep affection” for Blass. However, he did say that it was “at the very least doubtful” that Blass had had the capacity to marry.
弗兰克斯和她的兄弟就葬礼问题将福兰告上法庭。法官驳回了福兰有意骗取遗产的指控，判决对福兰有利，并评论他对布拉斯的“深厚感情”。然而，法官也表示，布拉斯是否有能力结婚“至少是值得怀疑的”。
Folan was contacted for comment.
已联系福兰征求意见。
Franks was shaken by the defeat. But determined to raise public awareness about the potential repercussions of later-life marriage, she has launched a grassroots national campaign. She says: “Many people simply don’t know what goes on.”
弗兰克斯因失败而感到震惊。但她决心提高公众对晚年婚姻潜在影响的认识，因此发起了一场全国性的草根运动。她说：“许多人根本不知道其中的情况。”