The Supreme Court has upheld the removal of Edward White as an executor of his mother Kathleen White’s estate and allowed solicitor Rosemary Gantly to be substituted as plaintiff after the death of his brother Damien White.
In a judgment delivered on 16 November 2015, Mr Justice Charleton said the appeal against the High Court’s 2011 order removing Edward White could not succeed. The executor’s year had passed, the estate was not shown to have unusual complexity, and Edward White had encountered difficulty completing a Revenue Commissioners return. The Court said the High Court was within its powers under the Succession Act 1965 to remove an executor in those circumstances.
The judgment describes a dispute over the estate’s main asset, a dwellinghouse at Derrynane, Ravenswell Road, Bray. Pizzaro Developments Ltd had contracted to buy it for a sum that appeared to be €1 million, but that sale did not proceed. Bray Town Council later served a compulsory purchase notice, and compensation was settled at €510,000 plus costs in August 2013.
Edward White alleged fraud and serious criminal conduct connected with the property transaction, including that the original purchaser had completed the deal and €1 million had been received and concealed. The Court said there was no evidence of anything untoward or criminal. It also said registration of an option agreement would not prove that a land sale had been completed.
Damien White had been permitted to extract a grant of probate after Edward White’s removal. Damien died in 2014. Gantly, acting under an appointment connected to the estate, applied to replace him as plaintiff. The Supreme Court granted that substitution, finding the relevant probate orders were in proper form and noting that the Revenue Commissioners had received an affidavit stating the estate’s gross value was €511,080 and its net value €439,730.
The Court’s decision concerned the executor’s removal and the substitution in the proceedings. It did not determine the precise circumstances of the property’s disposal, which the judgment said were not matters for consideration on the appeal. It noted that the failed option deal did not occur and said the proceeds received from the local authority should be used for those entitled under Kathleen White’s will.