Maths poser in $15m will fight
By Norrie Ross
November 06, 2008
An elderly spinster who in a disputed will left $15 million to her neighbours could not do simple arithmetic in her final years.
A Supreme Court judge heard yesterday that Betty Dyke became confused when trying to add up the cost of a tray of eggs and give change to a customer who visited her Mt Martha farm.
Justice Peter Vickery also heard that when a relative arrived to live with and care for an ailing Ms Dyke, she found five of the neighbours in the elderly lady's house.
Dianne Dyke, of Phillip Island, said that there were a group of "very stern" people in her cousin's kitchen, and she identified them as neighbours who later received millions in the will.
"It was a strange feeling. It made me feel very uncomfortable," Mrs Dyke said.
The plaintiffs, who are contesting Betty Dyke's will, have alleged that the neighbours tried to isolate her after they were made her major beneficiaries.
Mrs Dyke said that in 2002, Betty Dyke told her she had sold off some of her land and used the proceeds to pay the neighbours up front for looking after her.
Julie Nicholson, a second cousin of Ms Dyke, two friends of Ms Dyke and three charities are all contesting the will.
They have asked the court to revoke probate and to grant probate on her original 1985 document.
It is claimed that because of her dementia, ill-health and over-use of painkillers, Ms Dyke lacked the capacity to make the wills and had been subject to undue influence from the couples.
Ms Dyke died, aged 84, in a nursing home in 2004, two years after she was found tangled in barbed wire and covered in faeces at her property.
The hearing is expected to continue today.
Abridged
SOURCE: Herald Sun (Melbourne)
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Please note, that the case is still in the court process; and parties mentioned are presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
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