The High Court has found that a will made by Patrick Quinn in 1992 was lost in a solicitor’s office and was never taken into his possession. The court said the evidence showed, to a very high degree of probability, that the will had been mislaid at the offices of P. McRory & Co., which took custody of wills held by solicitor John Foy when he retired.
Ms Justice Stack delivered judgment on 21 November 2024 in an application by Mr Quinn’s sister, Elizabeth, also known as Lila, to admit a reconstructed copy of the will to probate. The original could not be found after his death in 2015.
The judgment says the will named Lila as executrix and sole beneficiary. The administrators of Mr Quinn’s estate did not dispute that the will had been validly made or what it contained. They argued that he had taken it from the solicitor and should be presumed to have destroyed it intending to revoke it. Lila’s case was that it had been lost while held by solicitors.
The judge found that Mr Foy’s register recorded the will as deposited in his safe and that there was no entry or receipt showing Mr Quinn had collected it. The will envelope and related papers were transferred to P. McRory & Co. in 2006. The court found that staff there examined the envelope while cataloguing the wills and probably failed to put the will back. It may still be in the office, the judgment said.
The court also cited shortcomings in the firm’s handling of the papers, including a lost register and safe key, and the failure to check the wills when asked in 2016 whether the firm held Mr Quinn’s will. The judge rejected evidence offered to suggest Mr Quinn had revoked it, including disputed accounts of a family conversation and speculation based on tape on the envelope.
The judgment records that the estate includes about 30 acres of farmland and cash in credit union accounts. If there were no will, it would be distributed among siblings and the children of siblings who had died earlier. The land had been the subject of separate Circuit Court proceedings; a 2022 consent order declared Mr Quinn its owner and directed a nephew to vacate. The land is now let to a third party, with rent retained for the estate.
The judge said she would make orders revoking the grant of administration held by Anthony and Colette Quinn and admitting the will to probate in terms of a reconstructed copy. The matter was to be listed for mention in early course so the court could make those orders and hear the parties on whether directions were needed on costs. The judgment records the proposed orders; it does not state that they had already been formally made.