The High Court has set aside an attempt by two solicitors to bring Nicole Hickey into negligence proceedings arising from advice given to her late father about his will.
Ms Justice Dunne ruled that the central issue the solicitors sought to raise against Ms Hickey had already been determined in earlier High Court proceedings and was therefore res judicata, meaning it could not be litigated again between the relevant parties.
John Hickey took out a life assurance policy in 1993 and placed it in trust. If he made no different appointment, the proceeds were to pass to his daughter Nicole. He later married Sinead Devane Hickey and made a will with advice from solicitors Michael Geary and Paul McCarthy's firm, but the will made no reference to the policy.
Mr Hickey died on January 30, 1999 without exercising his power to redirect the policy proceeds. Nicole consequently became beneficially entitled to them.
A previous High Court case considered whether she could also take a pecuniary legacy under the will. The court held that she had to elect between the legacy and the insurance proceeds. An election was made on her behalf, while she was a minor, to take the larger insurance benefit. The earlier judgment expressly held that Mr Hickey's widow had no interest in those proceeds once that election was made.
The widow subsequently sued the solicitors, alleging negligence in the preparation of the will and claiming losses including legal costs from the earlier proceedings and the difference between the testamentary legacy and the amount received by Nicole.
The solicitors then alleged that Nicole held part of the insurance proceeds on constructive trust for the widow and sought to have her contribute or indemnify them.
Ms Justice Dunne rejected that route. She found that Nicole had acted within her established legal entitlement and that the proposed third-party claim sought to revisit an issue which had already been resolved. The third-party notice was therefore set aside.