The High Court declared two voluntary transfers of land from Martin Burke to his wife, Deirdre Burke, void after finding they were made with the intention of defrauding creditors. The court said the transfers hindered Allied Irish Banks’ recovery of a judgment debt exceeding €5 million.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Twomey on 21 December 2018, concerned transfers of interests in two properties: folio 96063F, transferred in November 2017, and folio 33759F, transferred in February 2018. AIB brought proceedings under section 74 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009, which makes a conveyance made with intent to defraud a creditor voidable by a person prejudiced by it.
AIB had obtained summary judgment against Mr Burke for €5,453,893.37 in July 2017. The order was amended in October that year to correct a €2,000 typographical error. Both transfers to Mrs Burke took place after the judgment and amended order. The court heard sworn evidence for AIB that the two properties had a combined value exceeding €1 million.
Mrs Burke did not attend the hearing, and no lawyer appeared on her behalf. AIB’s counsel provided a doctor’s certificate, dated 3 December 2018, stating that she was not medically fit to attend court and was expected to remain unfit for at least three months. The judge noted that the certificate had been sent to AIB’s solicitors on 17 December, and that no adjournment application was before the court. The judge exercised his discretion to proceed in her absence.
Mrs Burke’s defence argued that the amended judgment against her husband was not an “absolute judgment”. The court rejected that argument, finding the typographical error did not affect the order’s validity. She also argued that AIB could recover its debt from a separate property charged to the bank, which she said had an asking price of €5.5 million. AIB disputed that property’s value. The judge said an asking price was not the same as value and that the relevant question was whether the transfers hindered recovery, not whether AIB might recover by another route.
The court found that, given the timing and the judgment debt, hindering AIB’s recovery was the necessary and probable consequence of the transfers. It declared both transfers void and of no legal effect under section 74. The supplied judgment text ends with that declaration; it does not show a ruling on AIB’s separate request for an order restraining dealings with the lands.