bankrupt

PHOTO: 123RF Jack West’s son seized his computer after finding concerning content on it.

An antagonistic 97-year-old involved in a bitter feud with his two sons will not be made bankrupt as they wished, with a judge finding he can’t have long to live and bankrupting him would only make him more vitriolic.

Jack West, a war veteran and retired dentist, sent his sons a string of abusive emails in recent years after they became concerned about his actions.

Jack lives on an 8.1-hectare rural property, near Auckland. In late 2014 he transferred the property to his two elderly sons, David and Geoffrey.

Jack’s only condition was that he be allowed to remain at the property and his sons pay all expenses related to it until his death, when they would inherit it.

All went well until late 2015 when Jack mistakenly sent David an email with an attachment that troubled his son.

The content of the email and attachment are unknown, but they were of sufficient concern to David that he seized Jack’s computers and contacted police.

Things deteriorated from there.

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