FARMINGTON – A judge is scheduled to hear a case next week involving a Strong couple’s lawsuit filed on behalf of a former Franklin County doctor and a request to dismiss it by both a German couple and a Kentucky woman.

The court granted Richard and Lorraine Chandler of Strong, attorneys-in-fact and friends of Margarete “Gretl” J. Hoch, 83, a temporary restraining order in October against John and Gudrun Stifel of Meinhart, Germany, owners and operators of Naturhotel Hessische Schweiz, and Mary Wagner-Burkhart of Alexandria, Ky.

The Chandlers’ lawsuit was filed to protect the well-being of Hoch, a retired Phillips doctor, and about $7.5 million in assets, according to court documents. The Chandlers don’t stand to gain anything from Hoch but several Maine nonprofit organizations do, according the suit.

The defendants claims Hoch is alive and well.

The Chandlers had assisted Hoch with her daily affairs while she lived in Phillips until late 2004 when she returned to her native Germany. They filed the lawsuit against the Stifels and Wagner-Burkhart charging fraud, undue influence/constructive trust, tortuous interference with economic advantage, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy. It asks for a preliminary and permanent injunction against them to protect Hoch.

The temporary restraining order was granted after the court based its decision on substantial evidence of abuse and intimidation against Hoch, according to court documents. Hoch has been staying at the Naturhotel Hessische Schweiz, a spa in Germany that offers treatments to slow the aging process.

The case will be heard at 2:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28, at Franklin County Superior Court in Farmington.

The Stifels and Wagner-Burkhart want the case dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction over the defendants, lack of subject matter jurisdiction, improper venue, failure to join an indispensable party, and lack of standing on the part of the plaintiffs, according to court documents.

Their motion to dismiss states Hoch is alive, apparently competent, represented by counsel in Germany and treated in Germany by qualified physicians.

The temporary restraining order granted to the Chandlers’ by a Farmington court in October upholds Hoch’s designation of the Chandlers as her authorized power of attorney, with broad responsibilities over her personal, financial and medical affairs. That order invalidates any purported power of attorney held by the Stifels and Wagner-Burkhart or anyone else, unless the court makes the decision to transfer that authority, according to court documents.

The Stifels and Wagner-Burkhart’s suit claims there is no “indication that (Hoch) wishes to assert any rights against the defendants or to do so at this time. It is manifest that she would not choose a forum in Farmington, Maine to litigate against the defendants given the inconvenience she would suffer by doing so as compared with the relative ease with which she could assert her interests in Germany.”