A former senior family judge killed himself at a care home after he “lost the will to live” following his dementia diagnosis, an inquest has heard.

Sir Nicholas Wall, who became president of the family division in 2010 and retired on health grounds in December 2012, was found hanged in his room at the Emily Jackson House care home in Sevenoaks, Kent on 17 February.

The 71-year-old had a rare neurological disease called fronto-temporal lobe dementia for several years that had only recently been diagnosed.

An inquest at the Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone heard he had lost hope of ever getting better and had pushed his loved ones away in the belief death was imminent.

Two letters were found following the discovery of his body by a nurse who noticed he was not in bed during a routine check just before 2am on 17 February.

Acting DS Robert Grieve, of Kent police, said one letter addressed to Wall’s wife stated he believed any hope of returning home had gone.

Grieve told the inquest: “[He] said he had lost the will to live and he will not get better and that Lady Wall had a life to live. He said his time is over, it’s nobody’s fault and he respects what she has done for him.”

In another letter written before he was diagnosed, Wall said he had “no hope for the future”, that he valued the help and support of his family but he believed his condition would deteriorate and he would lose his memory.

The inquest heard the last known sighting of Wall was the night before his body was discovered when a nurse visited his room with a cup of tea and his medication.

The nurse told police that during that visit, the judge made a joke to her about being late and smiled, and that she later left him as he read a book, Grieve told the inquest.

His cause of death was recorded as suspension, with a secondary cause listed as fronto-temporal dementia. There was no sign of a disturbance and the death was declared non-suspicious, Grieve said.

Fronto-temporal dementia is one of the least common forms of of the condition and is sometimes called Pick’s disease or frontal lobe dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Society.

It affects part of the brain connected to the control of behaviour and emotions plus the understanding of words. Fronto-temporal dementia is caused when nerve cells in the frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain die and the pathways that connect them change.

Recording a conclusion of suicide, the north-west Kent senior coroner, Roger Hatch, said it was clear from the discovery of the note that it was Wall’s intention to take his own life.

The Family Law Bar Association (FLBA) said following his death that Wall had “continued to struggle with ill health” since his retirement in 2012. He was described as “a compassionate judge who thought and cared deeply about the outcome of his cases”.

Wall, a Cambridge graduate, was called to the bar in 1969. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1988, became a recorder in 1990 and then a judge of the high court family division in April 1993.

He worked at the employment appeal tribunal and then the administrative court before being promoted to the court of appeal in January 2004.

In 2011, he said a “live-in lovers” law would protect women in long-term relationships from losing their home and income in a breakup with their partner.

He also said couples should be allowed to divorce without having to blame one or the other, adding that he could “see no good arguments against no-fault divorce”.

Lady Wall declined to comment following the inquest.