The High Court has ruled that a leasehold property at 40 Fonthill Industrial Park must be sold once 10 years have elapsed from the death of Mary Ann Horan, and as soon as possible after that. The court also ruled that net rental income must be distributed to the beneficiaries quarterly and that the residuary estate is to be distributed immediately.
Mr Justice Cregan delivered the ruling on 24 July 2023 in a construction summons brought by Shane MacNamara, the court-appointed administrator of Ms Horan’s estate. He was asked to determine the meaning of clauses 3 and 4 of her will. The judgment construed those clauses; it did not decide separate proceedings concerning alleged withdrawals from Ms Horan’s bank account.
Ms Horan’s will gave her son Dermot Horan her home at 15 Ramor Park and her interest in Westwood International Transport Ltd. It placed her leasehold interest in the Fonthill premises in trust for sale, with sale postponed for 10 years. The will directed that net income from the property be paid to four children in equal shares and that sale proceeds be divided in the same proportions. It also directed that the residue of her estate be converted into money and distributed by reference to the trust provisions.
The plaintiff and three of the four defendant beneficiaries argued that Fonthill was to be sold after the 10-year period and that the residue should be distributed without delay. Dermot Horan argued for an interpretation that would allow the property and the residue to remain in trust indefinitely, with income paid out over time.
The judge found that the will did not authorise a sale within the 10-year period or a postponement beyond it at the trustee’s discretion. He accepted evidence from the solicitor who prepared the will that the delay was intended to secure rollover relief for capital gains tax, and that the reference in the residue clause to distribution under clause 3 meant the equal shares set out in clause 3.4.
The court ruled that net rent must be paid to the beneficiaries as received, quarterly, and cannot be accumulated in the trust. It also ruled that the residue must be distributed immediately in the proportions set out in clause 3.4.
The judgment recorded that separate High Court proceedings had been brought over alleged unauthorised withdrawals of €232,449 from Ms Horan’s account. A defence had not yet been filed, and a motion for judgment in default of defence was before the court. The judge said the legal consequences of that evidence would be decided in those separate proceedings.