The High Court has admitted a 1999 homemade will of Catherine Rigney to probate despite her signature appearing on the backing sheet rather than on the line provided for signing the document.
Ms Justice Siobhán Stack delivered judgment on 4 August 2026 in proceedings concerning the estate of Rigney, late of 66 Naas Road, Dublin 12.
An earlier will made in 1982 divided Rigney’s cash, investments and home equally between her three children, Peter, Brendan and Catherine Mary. Its original was later lost, although a copy survived and the court found that it could otherwise have been proved from that copy.
The dispute centred instead on a later pre-printed will completed on 11 August 1999. It again divided cash and investments equally but left the house and garden at 66 Naas Road to Catherine Mary alone. The property represented about half of an estate worth roughly €800,000 at the date of death.
Rigney did not sign the 1999 document on the line directly above the witnesses’ signatures. Instead, she signed the backing sheet, beneath wording identifying the document as her last will and testament.
Stack J held that this was sufficient under section 78 of the Succession Act 1965. The legislation, she said, was intended to prevent an overly technical approach to the placement of a testator’s signature, while still guarding against fraud.
The judge found that Rigney had carefully completed the document, expressed clear wishes about her estate and arranged for two friends to witness it. One witness lived some distance away, supporting the inference that the execution had been deliberately arranged.
The court also noted that Rigney had mistakenly entered the 1999 date on the backing sheet of her earlier 1982 will, suggesting that both documents were before her when the later will was prepared.
The judge concluded that Rigney intended her backing-sheet signature to give effect to the 1999 document as her will. It was therefore admitted to probate.