An appeal over a challenge to a woman’s will, drawn up a week before she died and leaving her estate to her best friend, has been dismissed.
Hair stylist Celine Murphy (50), who died of cancer on March 15th, 2011, left her €283,000 estate, primarily her apartment in Brownsbarn Court, Clondalkin, Dublin, to her best friend Mary Butler from Straffan in Co Kildare.
The will was drawn up when Ms Murphy arrived at Ms Butler’s home on March 8th, the day before Ms Murphy was admitted to St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin where she died a week later.
While Ms Butler was not in her home that evening, her daughter Johanna was there with Latin Tridentine Bishop Michael Cox. Bishop Cox became executor and Johanna was asked to be a witness.
Subsequently, Ms Murphy’s sisters, Majella Rippington and Edel Banahan, with Ms Rippington’s husband Shaun Rippington, asked the High Court to declare the will invalid. Ms Murphy was unmarried and had no children.
Mary Butler and Bishop Cox counter-claimed seeking to have the will declared valid.
Ms Rippington, who personally represented herself, her sister and her husband, asserted invalidity on grounds of alleged duress and undue influence on her late sister.
In July 2015, Mr Justice Séamus Noonan declared the will to be valid and also ordered the costs of the case should not be borne by the estate but should be paid by the Rippington/Banahan side.
Mr Justice Noonan said he did this because of the outrageous and unsubstantiated allegations made by Ms Rippington.
He described Ms Rippington as “domineering, manipulative and an utterly unreliable witness who was prepared to say anything she felt might serve her purpose”.
Close friend
He was satisfied Ms Butler was a close and valued friend of Ms Murphy. There was nothing irrational about the contents of her will and Ms Murphy’s treating doctor said she was of sound mind, he said.
Not “a single shred of evidence” was produced by the Rippington side to support “of any of these extremely serious and scandalous allegations”, he also said.
Ms Rippington had, in her evidence to the court, engaged “in what can only be described as attempt to assassinate the character of Mrs Butler”, he said.
The Rippington/Banahan side appealed and on Tuesday a three-judge court dismissed the appeal.
Ms Justice Máire Whelan, on behalf of the court, however set aside the High Court costs order and said the appellants should pay the Butler/Cox costs.
Ms Justice Whelan rejected Ms Rippington’s claims of bias by the High Court judge or that he had erred in his findings. She also rejected a claim the High Court failed to take into account and give consideration to the facts and evidence the appellants presented.
Merely because a litigant disagrees with a judge’s determination, based on evidence, can never in and of itself constitute a basis for asserting bias, she said.
She rejected the Rippington claim that Ms Murphy never went to the Butler home.
She was satisfied there was cogent evidence before the trial judge which entitled him to come to the conclusions he did, including his evaluation of the respective witness, their motivation and demeanour.
The appeal court, which comprised its president Mr Justice Sean Ryan, Mr Justice Michael Peart and Ms Justice Whelan, also rejected a separate appeal by Mr and Ms Rippington. The court dismissed an application by them to extend time to appeal a 2012 High Court order appointing an independent administrator to extract a grant of administration to preserve the assets of the Murphy estate and pay its debts.