- Mauricio Ossola said he will go to Supreme Court to win access to the pension
- The law student married Yolanda Torres 14 months before she died from sepsis
- They were married in a 'discreet civil ceremony' as part of Yolanda's 'last wish'
- His claim to pension rejected because neighbours knew nothing of the marriage
A lawyer who married his great-aunt when he was 23 and she was 91 has vowed to fight for a widower's pension after social services chiefs rejected his application.
Argentinian Mauricio Ossola says he will go to the highest court in the land if necessary to prove he should get a weekly payment.
Mauricio, a law student when he married Yolanda Torres 14 months before she died from sepsis in April last year, claimed her 'last wish' was to marry him.
He has described their register office wedding as a 'noble and legitimate decision.'
Mauricio, from the city of Salta in north-west Argentina, moved in with his great-aunt after his parents separated eight years ago.
Mauricio Ossola, who was a law student when he married Yolanda Torres 14 months before she died from sepsis in April last year, claimed her 'last wish' was to marry him
He shared a home in the neighbourhood of Tres Cerritos with his mum, her brother, his grandmother and Yolanda.
They married in February 2015 in what Mauricio describes as a 'discreet civil ceremony' and he got the knock-back from his social services department after applying for a widower's pension last summer shortly after her death.
He told his local paper El Tribuno de Salta: 'She was an important support in my life and us getting married was her last wish.
'I loved Yolanda in the purest way you can love someone and that feeling, along with the pain her loss caused me, will remain with me for the rest of my life.'
'When I began to apply for the pension I presented all the necessary paperwork and complied with all the legal requirements.
'Yolanda might have been over 90 but she was extremely lucid. But she wasn't an expert when it came to the law and she wanted to be sure there were no legal problems with our marriage.'
Mauricio (pictured), from the city of Salta in north-west Argentina, moved in with his great-aunt after his parents separated eight years ago
Mauricio said their decision to marry came after she promised to help him continue his law studies which he had planned to abandon after his parents' split.
He admitted it had initially caused concern among relatives, who like him nicknamed Yolanda Ula or Ulita, but their worries had been assuaged when he proved to them there was no legal impediment to the union.
He says social services chiefs now said to have rejected his pension request even confirmed there should be no problem before they married.
Mauricio's application is understood to have been rejected because Mauricio's neighbours told investigators they knew nothing about the marriage.
But he raged last night: 'Next to our house they've built a block where I know no-one at all. What could these neighbours know about us and our discreet civil marriage?
'If I have to go all the way to the Supreme Court I will because the rejection of my petition is totally unfounded.
'I said to Yolanda after the separation of my parents: 'Look Ulita, I'm going to have to abandon my studies.
'Those were the circumstances that led to us getting married.
'Yolanda insisted I had to finish my studies. She would say to me, "I'm going to help you because you always take care of me, you go with me to the doctor's and you're always helping me with my problems."
Fellow Argentinian Reinaldo Wabeke made headlines around the world in 2010 when he married 82-year-old Adelfa Volpes. Pictured: Reinaldo and Adelfa
'After some time had gone by, I asked her what she would think if I asked her to marry me.''
Fellow Argentinian Reinaldo Wabeke made headlines around the world in 2010 when he married 82-year-old Adelfa Volpes.
She died 24 days later during their honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro.
The 68-year age gap didn't stop Reinaldo obtaining a widower's pension.
He went on to marry a man he later separated from before moving to Buenos Aires and settling for a quieter life away from the cameras.
Outraged commenter Rony Romarr last night branded Mauricio an 'opportunist', insisting: 'It's obvious his late wife knew nothing about the law and was convinced by this relative.
'Thanks to people like him widowers who really do need the money then find their applications held up.'
But Garcia Conny added: 'Well done to him. He's not an opportunist. He's simply being intelligent and taking advantage of money she worked all her life for.'
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