A Melbourne psychologist's plan to inherit her partner's $2.25 million estate came unstuck when her friends admitted their signatures had been forged onto a fake will, a court has been told.
Kris Schroder, 61, is accused of creating a false will for her dying partner Marie Hart to exclude all other family members as beneficiaries.
She has pleaded not guilty to nine charges including obtaining financial advantage by deception, perverting the course of justice and perjury.
Ms Hart died from an aggressive brain cancer in February 2016.
About two months later, Schroder travelled to Thailand where she told two friends she had created a fake will for Ms Hart, which was dated April 2014, a County Court trial heard on Friday.
Schroder's friend of 40 years, Kenneth Ewington, said during that trip she told him and his partner she had forged their signatures onto the will as witnesses.
"We said 'anything we can do for you, we're always here as a friend' and obviously she took that one step further," he told the jury.
He said Schroder checked the couple's Facebook to confirm they were in the country on the date their signatures were forged.
Mr Ewington said Schroder called him a couple of months later and asked the couple to sign an affidavit confirming they had signed the will.
"Kris said we'd be in trouble and this would get us out of trouble," he said.
He said Schroder instructed his partner by phone about what to write in the affidavit. The couple then went to their solicitor's office where they swore the affidavit was true.
The document was sent to Schroder's lawyers, who called and told Mr Ewington the signatures in the affidavit were different to the will.
He said he admitted to the lawyer: "We didn't sign anything, we were at work."
This led to a police investigation, where Mr Ewington and his partner were charged with perjury.
Before he was interviewed by police, he claimed Schroder drove to their property in regional Victoria and asked them to stick to the story.
The pair pleaded guilty in Castlemaine Magistrates Court and received a sentencing discount by agreeing to give evidence at Schroder's trial.
Schroder's lawyer Simon Kenny accused Mr Ewington of lying about the forged signatures, the false affidavit and Schroder's actions.
He also accused Mr Ewington of speaking to Ms Hart about her will while visiting her at a hospice before she died, which he denied.
Ms Hart's 2014 will left Schroder with about $2.25 million worth of property, inheritance and shares, and excluded a niece and nephew who were named as beneficiaries in a previous will.
Earlier, the jury heard Ms Hart's nephew contested the will, with Schroder offering the niece and nephew $100,000 each from the estate to withdraw their caveat.
Schroder rejects that the will was fake, denies knowing it was fake and denies forging her friends' signatures to gain a financial advantage by deception.
The trial before Judge Claire Quin continues.
