Judge rules man can preserve deceased sister’s Irish assets pending outcome of dispute over wills

A man has secured orders aimed at preserving the Irish assets of his deceased sister, including a house and 750 acres in Co Cork, pending the outcome of a dispute concerning wills.

“It is basic common sense that a property of this kind needs to be managed while complex legal issues arising from documents signed by the deceased in the last weeks of her life are sorted out,” the High Court’s Ms Justice Siobhán Stack said when making the orders.

Johanna Murphy, a native of Banteer, Co Cork, died on September 11th last in Dusseldorf, Germany, where she was undergoing cancer treatment. She left a substantial estate, including a house and 750 acres in Co Cork, and properties in Ostend in Belgium, and in Germany.

Barrister Karl Dowling, for her brother Denis Anthony Murphy, known as Anthony Murphy, applied on Monday for orders to extract a grant of probate for the purpose of preserving her Irish assets.

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The application was opposed by John E Donnelly, on behalf of Michelle Murphy, a niece of the deceased.

Mr Dowling said there is a dispute over whether Ms Murphy’s “first Irish will”, made on January 24th, 2020, was revoked by a German will, dated five days before her death, which dealt, inter alia, with property in Belgium, including a penthouse apartment and two garages.

There is “a different version” of that German will document, counsel said.

On foot of a codicil of the deceased, dated August 27th last, his case is that Anthony Murphy is executor of Ms Murphy’s estate, Mr Dowling said.

Under a power of attorney dated December 4th, 2017, the deceased appointed Anthony Murphy to manage her Irish property and business affairs while she was not here, counsel said. Under that, Mr Murphy ran her 750 acres in Cork, comprising nine separate holdings, of which eight are land holdings farmed and rented out, and the ninth is her home property, with 215 acres.

In an affidavit, Michelle Murphy said the will dated September 6th, 2023, is her aunt’s last will and testament, is valid under Belgian law, and named herself, Michelle Murphy, as administrator of the estate, properties and assets.

She intended to apply for a full grant of probate in Ireland to deal with her aunt’s assets here, Ms Murphy said.

She said her aunt wrote in May 2023 to a solicitor who had been appointed joint executor of her estate under her January 2020 will, saying she wanted that will scrapped, was unhappy with how her assets were being managed in Ireland, intended to make a last will, and referred to “family on all sides pressurising me”. Her aunt wanted to withdraw the power of attorney made to Anthony Murphy, she said.

Ms Murphy said she was advised the 2020 will and an August 2023 codicil signed by her aunt were revoked as a result of the will of September 6th, 2023, that Anthony Murphy is neither executor nor administrator of the estate, and he lacked standing to make this application.

Mr Dowling said he is concerned the will document of September 6th, 2023, is not valid on the basis the deceased may not have been acting voluntarily and there may have been undue influence.

These complex matters did not have to be decided now as this application was about preserving assets, he said.

Anthony Murphy, he said, is currently paying the costs of upkeep of the Irish estate, including for horses and insurance. Before her death, any income from the estate was paid into Woodford Stud Ltd (WSL), a company of the deceased, and his client accepted he had a duty to account for those monies, he said.

Asking the judge to refuse the application, Mr Donnelly said there was no evidence assets would be “in peril” if a grant of probate was not issued.

In her ruling, Ms Justice Stack said, while more details could have been provided about the Irish assets, she found the defence to the application “somewhat unreal”.

There is no such thing as a property not requiring management, she said.

She had “no hesitation” granting Mr Murphy liberty to extract a grant of probate for the purpose of collecting in and preserving the Irish assets, and for paying all vouched outgoings.

Granting costs to Mr Murphy, she said the application had to be brought and the objection to it seemed “somewhat unmeritorious”. There may have been “speculative remarks” but there was no allegation Mr Murphy is not a fit person to manage the properties, she said.

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