A disgraced former nurse who received more than $1 million in inheritance from an elderly patient she met less than four weeks before his death has been ordered to give the remaining money to his family.
A lawyer representing a relative of Lionel Cox, a 92-year-old Melbourne man who died in 2015, claimed ex-nurse Abha Anuradha Kumar’s will created the large estate under “the most suspicious circumstances imaginable.” ‘.
Last week, High Court Judge Melissa Daly ordered the revocation of probate, giving Kumar the power to administer Mr Cox’s estate.
Although the value of the estate has fallen due to a series of transfers by Kumar to cover legal costs, the more than $880,000 that remains will be paid out to Mr Cox’s cousins. The era reported.
Kumar was a manager at Cambridge House, a residential aged care facility in Collingwood – inner-city Melbourne – when she met Mr Cox in 2015, according to court documents.
She soon discovered that the eldest had no immediate family or will, but owned a valuable property in nearby Fitzroy.
Kumar bought a will kit within three days of learning of the sick and weak man’s plight and three weeks later convinced two other Cambridge House staff members to witness his handwritten will, a statement of claim alleged.
However, she also failed to disclose that she was listed as executor and sole beneficiary of Mr Cox’s estate.
Lionel Cox, 92, Melbourne man (pictured) left his estate to ex-nurse Abha Anuradha Kumar
Kumar bought a will (pictured) for Mr Cox three days after learning he owned property but had no immediate family
Mr. Cox died after a short battle with pneumonia on August 9, 2015.
Kumar was reportedly not working on the day of his death, but called Cambridge House to demand that a junior staffer search his belongings for his house key before his body was moved to a funeral home.
The nurse soon became the ‘informant’ on Mr Cox’s death certificate and was granted probate by the High Court in November 2015.
The value of Mr Cox’s estate totaled more than $1 million, with Kumar making $1,117,000 from his Greeves Street home when it was sold in 2016, $36,277 cash and personal items worth $3,000.
The lawyer representing his cousin Geoffrey Cox, a beneficiary of the previous court’s ruling, argued that Kumar’s actions constituted financial abuse of the elderly.
Abha Anuradha Kumar (pictured) was accused of being named the sole beneficiary of Lionel Cox’s estate under ‘the most suspicious circumstances imaginable’
“It’s an important reminder that the law can and will catch up with you eventually,” James Dimond of law firm Moores told the publication.
‘This is a rare situation involving a medical professional, but elderly and vulnerable people are being separated from their belongings or constantly pressured into signing dodgy wills and other legal documents.
‘The legal system is full of cases of financial abuse of the elderly, usually involving close family members.’
Kumar was served a ‘summons for revocation’ in Supreme Court proceedings brought in August 2021 by Victorian Government-owned State Trustees.
The trustee’s lawyers claimed Kumar had failed to execute Mr Cox’s will in accordance with the law and acted against the elder’s will.
The Supreme Court’s decision last Thursday came five years after Kumar was banned from being a registered doctor.
An investigation by the Nursing and Midwifery Board found she had committed professional misconduct.
The remains of Mr Cox’s (pictured) estate will be paid out to his surviving nephews
A 2019 Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing found Kumar was a “deeply flawed character” and posed a risk to the public because she “lacks trustworthiness and integrity.”
‘The conduct in this case constituted determined, purposeful actions by Ms Kumar to ensure that Mr Cox – a vulnerable, elderly man in her care – made a will in her favor, and that no one knew he had done so until he died,” the ruling said.
Kumar was banned from working or volunteering in an aged care facility or being a registered caregiver for five years.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Kumar’s lawyer for comment.