A High Court judge has said that he "must say in emphatic terms" that there was no evidence of undue influence in the making of a farmer's will.
The elderly sister and nephew of the farmer who died, leaving the bulk of his €1.8 million estate to another nephew, have lost their High Court challenge to his will.
Mr Justice Roderick Murphy yesterday rejected claims by Anastasia Elliott and her son David that the will of Nicholas Roche was procured as a result of undue influence exercised over Mr Roche by either another sister, Bridie Stamp, or her son, Robert Stamp.
The confluence of circumstances in the case "do not give rise to a suspicion, 1et alone proof" of undue influence, the judge said.
The proceedings related to a will executed by Mr Roche, a single man, Ballyvalden, Blackwater, Co Wexford, on February 20th, 2003. He died on May 3rd, 2003.
In his will, Mr Roche, the only son of a family of five who stayed on the family farm throughout his life, left his farm to his nephew Robert Stamp.
The will was challenged by his sister Anastasia (81), a resident of a Dublin nursing home, and her son David.
However, Mr Justice Murphy ruled that they had produced no evidence to support claims that the will was not the product of a free and voluntary act of Mr Roche.
After assessing all the evidence in the case, including testimony from the Elliotts and Stamps, from neighbours of Mr Roche and from a legal executive who drafted the will, the judge said it did not seem to him there was any evidence, notwithstanding the dependency of Mr Roche on the Stamps, that he was under their dominion and control.
There was also ample evidence of the involvement of the Stamps in the care of Mr Roche, the judge said.
His sister Bridie looked after him, especially from Christmas 2002 to his hospitalisation on February 21st, 2003, while Robert Stamp had looked after his cattle, post and bills from 1987 onwards and saw him every Wednesday and Friday.
While Mr Roche had had little schooling, it was clear, while being a simple person, that he was honest and intelligent in the running of his own affairs, the judge added. There was no doubt from the evidence of those closest to Mr Roche that he was "his own man, not susceptible to pressure or dominion". The judge ruled the will was executed in accordance with the provisions of the Succession Act.
He also said the court would confirm that the allegations that Mr Roche was not of sound disposing mind on the date of execution of the will had no foundation in evidence heard by the court.
