Kevin McGeever removed as executor by High Court

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Kevin McGeever was removed as executor of his late partner Siobhan O’Callaghan’s estate by Ms Justice Marie Baker in the High Court and replaced by independent solicitor Jim Trueick. The proceedings were reported on 2 December 2016.

Businessman James Byrne sought the appointment to recover a €1.2 million judgment obtained in 2014 against McGeever and his company over a failed Dubai apartment deal. Byrne feared inherited assets could be put beyond his reach. The application was opposed.

O’Callaghan died in November 2013. Her 2006 will left most of her estate to McGeever and cash to others. The estate had a net value of about €525,000 in August 2015.

The judge expressly said the order was not based on a conflict with the estate or undue delay in extracting the grant of probate. McGeever had shown through his solicitor that he was not then in a position to administer the estate should a grant be extracted. The court had received medical evidence of stress-related illness and high blood pressure.

McGeever cannot distribute the estate pending further court order. His solicitors’ claim that they were owed money from the estate must be determined before distribution. Trueick was empowered to meet any claim they brought against the estate.

In separate High Court proceedings, Byrne’s solicitor Hugh Kane was appointed interim receiver over shares in Belize-based Universal Assets Ltd, which owns ‘Nirvana’ in Craughwell, Co Galway. Its sale would also go towards satisfying the judgment. McGeever claimed the property was held in trust for his two daughters.

McGeever pleaded guilty in April 2016 before Galway Circuit Court to wasting garda time. The report said he received a two-year suspended sentence. He had claimed creditors kidnapped him and held him for eight months before he turned up on a roadside and was picked up by a passing motorist.