I have worked for many years as a teacher of communication skills and other non-clinical topics in medical education. In 2015 my mother, aged 91 and with advanced vascular dementia, suffered a secret predatory marriage to a much younger man. Because marriage revokes a will in England, Wales and Northern Ireland the man inherited complete rights to her funeral plus her entire estate. Early investigations showed me that the problems lay not with individuals but with outdated laws, procedures that have not kept pace with the huge rise in dementia, and lack of training.

I have been campaigning ever since to raise awareness of predatory marriage and to improve the laws and safeguarding at marriage. The campaign has made considerable progress in the UK. I have given around 300 talks to raise awareness and the campaign has become well-known.

I will travel to Canada, France and the Netherlands to research laws and procedures at marriage and discover in what way they differ from those in the UK. I want to take best practice from overseas to ensure that proposed changes remove the loopholes in law and in safeguarding to protect the vulnerable from predatory marriage in the future.