NORTH COUNTY –
An elderly couple who fell in love and eloped while living in a nursing home had their marriage annulled yesterday despite their pleas to remain wed.
A Vista Superior Court commissioner ruled that the two-year-old marriage was invalid, agreeing with the man's sons that he wasn't mentally competent to consent to marriage.
The ruling places the Oceanside couple's future together in doubt.
Herbert Woodward II, 88, and Wani Bielinski, 86, wanted to stay married. Woodward's family filed the case to annul the marriage, saying he wasn't acting in his best interest, and that the family trust needed to be protected.
Superior Court Commissioner Jeannie Lowe said yesterday that she relied on testimony from Woodward's physician, who had diagnosed him with moderate dementia in 2004. The physician testified that the condition later grew worse.
Lowe said in her ruling that she was sorry to break up the marriage, but the law is clear that a person must be mentally competent to enter a valid marriage contract.
“If I could decide this case for sentimental reasons, I'd be denying this case for annulment,” Lowe said. “But my position is to interpret the law.”
Richard Hyatt, an attorney representing Woodward's family, said the ruling was fair.
“It was clear that Mr. Woodward was too debilitated in too many ways to make a decision about entering a marriage, and (the judge) felt that he didn't understand the financial implications,” Hyatt said.
Hyatt declined to reveal the value of the family trust. A member of Bielinski's family said it was around $800,000.
Woodward, a retired electronics engineer, and Bielinski met at a Carlsbad assisted-living facility and embarked on a whirlwind courtship of dates to the senior dances.
They wanted to marry, but one of Woodward's sons objected. When the son was out of town, the couple had a friend drive them to the Vista courthouse, where they were wed Aug. 24, 2006. They later moved to an assisted-living center in Oceanside.
Bielinski and Woodward were not in the courtroom yesterday and were told of the ruling by family members. Bielinski said she and Woodward are shocked and angered by the decision.
The couple had sat together, holding hands, during the Sept. 4 trial.
“I just don't understand,” Bielinski said in an interview at the nursing home. “He's happy. We're a happy couple. I'd die if I lost him.”
Woodward's family, which has legal guardianship and conservatorship over him, instructed the nursing home not to allow him to speak to the media.
Bielinski, who has been diagnosed with mild dementia, seemed lucid during a brief interview, speaking calmly and making eye contact. However, she couldn't remember the names of Woodward's sons.
Her attorney, Susan Schnepf, said, “I'm really saddened for these two people because they are so much in love.”
Brad Woodward, one of the three sons, was the only member of his family present for the ruling. He said outside the courtroom that Bielinski prevented Woodward from attending family events.
“She did absolutely everything she could to isolate my dad from us,” he said. “She kept him from coming to birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and not for our lack of trying.”
Still, Woodward said his family wouldn't object to the couple remaining together, unmarried, at the nursing home. Bielinski's family said they hope the couple can continue living together at the home, but the details about what will happen haven't been worked out.
Woodward also said that his family sought a post-nuptial agreement, but her family wouldn't agree.
“What we saw was somebody coming in and trying to take advantage of him,” Woodward said.
Bielinski's daughter, Cassi Zarkyka Whiting of London, said in a telephone interview that the opposite was true. “We agreed in the beginning we'd waive all the rights,” she said. “We just want them to be together.”
Whiting said the Woodward family insisted on an agreement that would have required Bielinski to vacate the room within three weeks after the death of her husband if he died first, and wouldn't allow her to attend his funeral. “It totally left out the human element,” she said.
Bielinski said she never stopped Woodward from seeing his family. “It's hard for me because his family hates me,” she said.
Tanya Mannes: (619) 498-6639; tanya.mannes@uniontrib.com
