Mike - Interview 9  

Mike - Interview 9

Age at Interview: 53
Sex: Male
Background: Mike is a mental health lecturer and social worker. He is married. Ethnic background/nationality: White British.

Brief outline:In 1972, when Mike was aged 18, his father took his own life. He died in his car by inhaling fumes from the exhaust. His death has had a huge impact on Mike’s life. Mike has done much to help others bereaved due to suicide, which has also helped him.

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After his father died Mike resented the fact that his step-mother would benefit from his father’s estate. He found it difficult having to deal with the solicitors.

 



Oh yes, we were involved with the solicitor, we had a solicitor because there were issues about the Will, that we had to deal with through the solicitor.

Was that difficult?

Well it was because the thing that was very upsetting to us was my mother and father had worked for thirty odd years themselves and, to accumulate what they’d got materially, and the Will was about to be changed to leaving everything to my stepmother. Her half, she was going get half of everything anyway, and as it turned out she ended up getting half of everything that both my mother and father had worked for all those years and the other fifty percent was split between me and my sister. So we resented that very much, I mean if she’d been a good wife to him then that would’ve been different, we wouldn’t have minded.  We didn’t have any objection to him getting married again we could see how upset and lonely he was that wasn’t a problem to us, but it was just very unfortunate that he ended up marrying the wrong woman, basically.

 

You said the Will was about to be changed?

 

Yes.

 

But it still went half to her?

 

Yes it did, so it was going to be changed so she’d have got everything.

 

Ah.

Yes.

So that was quite a difficult time?

Very difficult time, having to deal with solicitors, to sort of ensure that our legal interests were being represented, and we were going get our share of what we should be getting entitled to under the Will, so that was a difficult time yes, very difficult.

Bereavement due to suicide
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