The High Court has dismissed a negligence claim against solicitors over funds left in a deceased man’s bank accounts, ruling that the proceedings were brought outside the six-year limitation period.
The action was heard as a preliminary issue limited to whether the claim was statute-barred. The plaintiffs, three surviving beneficiaries of Dr Daniel Kearns’s will and beneficiaries of their mother’s estate, alleged that McCann Fitzgerald failed to collect and distribute funds held at Allied Irish Banks during the administration of the estate. The firm denied liability and pleaded that the claim was out of time.
The judgment said the two bank deposits totalled IR£3,968.99. The firm included them in an Inland Revenue Affidavit used to obtain probate, but accepted that the funds were not collected after probate issued in July 1980 or included in the estate cash account. In February 1981, the firm wrote to the third plaintiff saying administration was nearly complete and sent her the cash account and a cheque for her share.
The beneficiaries said they first learned of the accounts in June 2002, when the bank contacted them about dormant accounts. The bank later confirmed that it had closed the accounts and paid out the funds on their instructions. The plaintiffs issued proceedings in February 2004, within six years of the bank’s letter but more than six years after the solicitors’ 1981 letter.
The plaintiffs argued that the limitation period should run from discovery of the alleged error under section 72 of the Statute of Limitations Act 1957. They also argued that barring the claim would breach property rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. The judge rejected both arguments. He held that section 72 did not apply to this negligence claim, and said the Convention property right was not engaged because the funds had been paid to the plaintiffs, with deposit interest; the claim sought damages for the alleged loss of earlier use of the money.
The court held that the cause of action accrued upon receipt of the February 1981 letter. It therefore found the claim statute-barred and dismissed the proceedings. The ruling resolved the limitation issue and dismissed the action; it did not determine whether the solicitors had been negligent.