Mary Walsh ordered to pay stepson €560,000 lotto share

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Mary Walsh was ordered earlier in February 2017 to pay her stepson David Walsh €560,000, plus his legal costs, in a High Court lottery dispute. The judge found he was a part owner entitled to one-sixth of a €3.3 million winning ticket. She intends to appeal.

David Walsh based his claim on his signature being among six on the ticket. Mrs Walsh maintained the ticket was hers and claimed he had accepted the family home in lieu of €200,000 from the win. He denied accepting the house instead of a share. The judge rejected her claims.

On 13 February 2017, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys continued orders preventing Mrs Walsh from reducing her assets below €929,000, covering the award and legal expenses. He also granted discovery of documents to assist enforcement of the judgment.

Mrs Walsh reported assets comprising a house, car and life insurance policy, worth €670,000 including liquid assets of €6,991.61. David Walsh’s lawyers sought the orders amid concerns she would dissipate her assets. Her lawyers said her sworn statement answered the freezing application and she was not required at that stage to explain where the lottery money had gone.

The judge relied on her evidence and sworn statement in confirming the orders. Noting more than €2 million was unaccounted for, he said she had done “a great deal of what a person would do if they wanted to dissipate assets”.

He refused payments from the assets for living, legal and business expenses. She sought €1,050 monthly for living costs and €4,000 monthly for a business she said had lost €53,000, plus legal expenses for her intended appeal and third-party litigation. The judge said allowing the payments would be unfair to Mr Walsh and agreed with his lawyers that her €233 weekly pension would cover living expenses.