The High Court revoked the grant of probate held by Josie Ahern and John Chawke after finding serious misconduct and an impasse that had stalled administration of the estate of Conor O’Donnell. It gave solicitor James Lucey liberty to apply for a grant of letters of administration with the will annexed; it did not itself grant him that appointment.
Mr Justice Allen’s judgment, delivered on 14 December 2020, concerned an application by Michael O’Donnell under the Succession Act 1965. The will, made in 2012, named Ms Ahern and Mr Chawke as executors and left specific lands and assets to several nephews. The grant had issued in March 2018, following an earlier court decision admitting the will to probate in solemn form.
The judge said the executors had been unable to agree on a solicitor to handle the estate. Their dispute, along with failures to keep proper records, had delayed administration. A joint Bank of Ireland account had 213 transactions between November 2014 and November 2018, including substantial cash withdrawals. The judge held that both executors shared responsibility for the inadequate records and for dealings conducted in cash.
Mr Chawke had sold cattle to the estate and swapped cattle with it. The judge found that an executor should not have dealt with the estate on both sides of a transaction, particularly without records or independent valuations. He also found that Mr Chawke’s insistence that only one solicitor act had prolonged the delay. Ms Ahern had facilitated the cattle dealings and signed an assent and share-transfer documents in favour of Michael O’Donnell, despite unresolved questions about the estate’s liabilities and which Kerry shares the will covered. The judge found her conduct amounted to serious misconduct as well.
The judgment also addressed a later allegation that Mr Chawke had cattle on estate land. Michael O’Donnell accepted that his evidence on this point was wrong: the cattle shown in the Department of Agriculture records were registered to the deceased. The judge said the outcome did not depend on that additional evidence.
The court ordered the grant to Ms Ahern and Mr Chawke revoked under section 26(2), and gave Mr Lucey liberty to apply under section 27(4) for administration with the will annexed. It did not determine the costs of Michael O’Donnell’s motion, listing that issue for 21 December 2020. It also re-entered Mr Chawke’s earlier removal motion for final disposal on that date, limited to costs, and re-entered Michael O’Donnell’s special summons. The judge said the special summons appeared to be spent, but would hear counsel.