FARMINGTON – A court hearing on a Strong couple’s lawsuit on behalf of a former Franklin County doctor and a request to dismiss it by a German couple and Kentucky woman was postponed until next week.

The case was scheduled to be heard Monday but instead will be heard at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, at the Franklin County Superior Court in the building it shares with the 12th District Court.

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 her assets, according to court documents.

The Chandlers are asking for a preliminary and permanent junction against the Stifels and Wagner-Burkhart. Their lawsuit charges fraud, undue influence/constructive trust, tortuous interference with economic advantage, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy.

The Stifels and Wagner-Burkhart have filed a request to dismiss the suit. They claim that Hoch is alive and well and that there is no indication that she wishes to assert any rights against the defendants or to do so at this time.

They 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.