The High Court has ruled that a 2019 will, rather than Patrick Joseph Quinn's final 2024 will, governs a foreign investment worth US$52,709.29 left by the late Ballsbridge man.
Mr Quinn, of 88 The Pines, Herbert Park Lane, died on 31 May 2024 aged 97. He was divorced and left no surviving children, parents or siblings. His Irish estate was valued at €817,369.97 gross and €804,959.33 net.
In a judgment delivered on 23 March 2026, Ms Justice Siobhán Stack considered which of at least six wills should apply to an investment held through US-based Charles Schwab. The investment consisted of shares registered in the United Kingdom and was therefore moveable property outside Ireland.
Quinn's final will, dated 13 February 2024, revoked earlier wills dealing with his Irish estate or property to which Irish law applied, while stating that previous testamentary arrangements concerning property in other jurisdictions were unaffected.
The difficulty was that Irish law governs succession to moveable property where the deceased was domiciled in Ireland, even when the asset itself is abroad. Quinn had been domiciled in Ireland when he died.
The court therefore examined evidence of what Quinn intended when using that revocation wording. Solicitors' records from 2021 showed that he intended his later Irish will not to apply to foreign assets and believed he would dispose of those assets before his death.
Ms Justice Stack found that Quinn did not intend to leave any assets to pass on intestacy and had not intended his later wills to revoke earlier testamentary arrangements governing his foreign estate.
The court therefore held that the 2019 will remained effective for the Charles Schwab investment. Under its residuary clause, the fund will be divided among 13 family members and four charities, including the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
The court left open a further procedural issue: whether the 2019 will should also be admitted to probate in Ireland, as opposed to only in the relevant foreign jurisdiction.