Challenge to Irish charitable will fails
Howard Lake | 28 August 2013 | News
A charitable will worth nearly €3.5 million has been upheld in the Dublin High Court after it was contested by a relative of the deceased.
According to the Irish Times, Mary Coffey left her two brothers €45,000 each out of the €3.5 million will with the rest going to charity and one of the brothers had argued in court that she was of unsound mind when writing the will. Following evidence from Ms Coffey’s doctor and solicitor the court ruled that the will had been properly drawn up.
Ms Coffey had made up to 100 bequests ranging from sums of €100 to €1,000 to €10,000 and up to €50,000 to various charities for the poor, the deaf and the blind, and to hospices, the Samaritans and the Helicopter Rescue Service, according to the newspaper.
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Even after these specific bequests, Ms Coffey’s estate had been left with just under €2.8 million which will be distributed among charities as her executor, a distant cousin, decides.
It is understood that Ms Coffey’s wealth came from the sale of farm land at the height of the property boom.
Ms Coffey died at age 87 in 2005.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.