A terminally ill Johan (John) de Rooy signed his modest possessions over to his ex-wife.
Photo: Open Justice / Supplied
A terminally ill man with Asperger’s signed his meagre possessions over to his ex-wife, whom a judge has found he was incapable of opposing.
Johan de Rooy, known as John to his family, was described as a gentle man, who was deeply religious and completely dependent on his ex-wife.
Months after undergoing surgery for brain cancer and in the process of dying from the disease, De Rooy fired his longtime lawyer by email. He then cut his siblings out of his will and instead bequeathed his modest estate to Alaine Janette Coleman.
The move raised his family’s suspicions, so brother Michael challenged the validity of the new will in court.
Now, in a recently released ruling from the High Court at Whangārei, a judge has found that Coleman was the driving force behind the changes to his will and it was obtained by “undue influence”.
According to that ruling, De Rooy was the eldest of five siblings, deeply religious and met Coleman at church, before they married in 2006.
In 2005, De Rooy had a full frontal lobe stroke and, by 2009, had been diagnosed with mental health conditions, including Asperger’s, Somatoform disorder, as well as Generalised Anxiety and Major Depressive Disorders.
Then, in 2011, De Rooy faced charges for violence against Coleman, which were ultimately dismissed at trial.
However, the same year, De Rooy engaged a family lawyer and wrote a will that left his small estate to his siblings. He also made allegations about his then-wife, claiming she was controlling, manipulative and had repeatedly assaulted him.
“I currently feel very vulnerable to Jannette’s overtures, and attempts to manipulate and influence me,” he said in a note to his lawyer.
According to the judgement, the pair officially divorced in 2014.
Changing of the will
Nearly 10 years later, De Rooy phoned his lawyer’s office and made a small change to his will over his burial instructions, the day before he was due to undergo brain surgery.
Five days after the surgery, he called again and made more changes, including that Coleman could occupy his unit in Whangārei for a reasonable period of time after his death, then it was to be sold.
Then, in April that same year, he rescinded all his wills prior to the newest one as of 2021, and fired his lawyer, revoked another of his brothers as power of attorney and wrote Coleman into a new will.
“On Saturday, May 1, 2021, I received an email from John,” his former lawyer, Bridget Westenra, told the court. “I was concerned about the contents of the email.
“It contradicted many of the instructions John had previously given to me and it did not appear to have been written by him,”
De Rooy then followed up with another email, which said: “I need to clear my conscience, therefore I want to write to you about the truth. I wanted my wife, Alaine (Ali) Jannette to have her name on the title for my unit. She was NOT trying to take my unit.”
Whangārei courthouse.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Westenra then visited him for a welfare check and was told to leave by Coleman.
In June 2021, Coleman arranged for De Rooy to be assessed for mental acuity and a doctor subsequently issued a medical certificate declaring that he “has full capacity to make informed decisions on his affairs relating to personal welfare and property”.
Two days later, a new will was made.
However, the records of this new will were described by Justice Timothy Brewer as “sketchy”, with only a letter of engagement and a will instruction form recorded with the new lawyers.
That new lawyer had not met De Rooy before and his firm had acted for Coleman. He also made no inquiries about previous wills or if there might be other people with a claim on his estate.
De Rooy then died alone at his unit in Whangārei on or about 16 August, 2021.
The challenge
In court, De Rooy’s brother, Michael, claimed that Coleman regained control over her ex-husband while he was terminally ill, isolated him from his family and support network, before getting him to change his will.
A year before he made a new will, De Rooy emailed his brother, saying he was going to make some changes. Michael responded, advising caution, when his brother said he was going to change law firms.
“Why on earth would you need to change solicitors and I hope not on someone else’s suggestion,” Michael said.
Michael said De Rooy’s will needed to be clear, as there would likely be some conflict over his estate and he was also concerned that Coleman was likely reading his emails.
“You are allowing someone who does not trust you a privileged position in your home, foolhardy and just stupid,” he said.
“Can you not see the need to distance yourself from this? How dangerous the situation is to yourself and others?”
De Rooy replied, “Yes, I see it now more clearly than ever before… now comes the part where I figure out how to extricate myself from the position that I have put myself into”.
Coleman, a retired school teacher, represented herself and told the court she was a passive person, who had supported De Rooy throughout their relationship, although she was the victim of his erratic and, at times, violent behaviour.
She claimed that their divorce in 2014 was a “sham” to placate De Rooy’s family, who she says disapproved of her, and that, at all times, they were in a loving relationship, albeit with periods of “ups and downs”.
Coleman described De Rooy’s first lawyer as a “meddler”, and it was her ex-husband’s own decision to fire her and revoke the power of attorney for his brother Robert, stop attending church and to make the 2021 will.
Coleman’s case was that De Rooy led a life of deception and that, to his family, he presented as being separated from her, however, in actuality, they shared their lives, cohabited and were in a loving relationship, and in 2021, chose to reflect that in his will.
Dependence and undue influence
Justice Timothy Brewer described De Rooy as a “passive and gentle man” with a modest estate, with his only asset being a unit in Whangārei of no great value.
In his judgement, Justice Brewer said that Coleman had a strong and dominating personality, and that her ex-husband was “in thrall to her”.
“I find that when he became terminally ill, Johan de Rooy became completely dependent on Mrs Coleman,” he said. “Mrs Coleman took active steps to ensure that.
“It was she who instigated Johan de Rooy’s cancellation of the enduring power of attorney to Robert de Rooy, his dismissal of Ms Westenra as his lawyer, his withdrawal from his church and, ultimately, the making of the 2021 will.”
In her evidence to the court, Coleman had produced a video of De Rooy, in which he praised his ex-wife and accepted he didn’t treat her well. Justice Brewer said it was noticeable in the video that De Rooy’s eyes were repeatedly looking off camera to where he assumed Coleman was present.
“In short, I find that Johan de Rooy was incapable of opposing Mrs Coleman when he was in her presence,” Justice Brewer said. “I do not accept that any of Johan de Rooy’s ‘confessions’ and communications with others while he was in Mrs Coleman’s presence represent his genuine views.”
Justice Brewer said that Coleman wanted De Rooy’s home and viewed it as belonging to her, but knew she wouldn’t inherit it under the instructions in his old will.
Ultimately, Justice Brewer found that the 2021 will was obtained by undue influence and didn’t reflect De Rooy’s actual intentions. As such, he declared the new will invalid.
Michael de Rooy’s lawyer, Simon Davies-Colley, told NZME on behalf of his client that the family took the matter to court because they wanted the story to be told.
“He was dying and couldn’t make his wishes known, so they took it upon themselves after his death,” Davies-Colley said. “They’re pleased that the court has seen what they saw all along.”
Davies-Colley said the evidence presented in court showed De Rooy was essentially incapable of opposing his ex-wife and “couldn’t refuse her”.
As for De Rooy’s brothers, Davies-Colley said they were relieved his true voice had been acknowledged by the court and that a nearly four year-long court battle had come to an end.
Coleman told NZME she disputed the judgment and claimed it was De Rooy who controlled her over the years.
“He was actually controlling me,” she claimed. “It was absolutely the opposite.
“My view is that I was compassionate to Johan, in spite of the terrible experiences I had.
“I’m a person who supported him, in spite of things that happened., I was aware he was mentally ill, and therefore it was easy to be forgiving and continue to help him, as he asked me to.”
Coleman said she couldn’t pay a lawyer to represent her in court, and claimed she’d had a brain injury last year and didn’t know the court rules.
She disputed Justice Brewer’s assertion that she was “fiercely intelligent” and said that was mentioned to help form the narrative that she had controlled De Rooy.
“I’m just an old lady who was wanting to keep her home.”
Coleman said she was considering her options regarding appeal.
This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.