Three sons sue father over will of his mother

A High Court judge has described a legal action where three sons have sued their father over his late mother’s — their grandmother’s — will as being an unfortunate family dispute.

Mr Justice Paul Gilligan made the remarks in a case brought by David, Paul, and Denis Ginnane against their father John Ginnane arising from his intention to sell the home of the late Agnes Ginnane in Buncrana, Co Donegal, to pay back monies owed to KBC Bank.

Ms Ginnane died in November 1996. In a will made that year, she left the bulk of the estate to her only child, John. She also bequeathed IR£10,000 to each of her five grandchildren.

In High Court proceedings, the three brothers claim they never got that money and only became aware of the contents of the will a few years ago. They claimed that prior to her death, their father had taken over their grandmother’s assets to the extent that by the time she passed away there was effectively nothing left to be administered in her estate.

They claimed their parents went on a spending spree and acquired assets including new cars, a boat, and made improvements to their home. However, they got into financial difficulties following the economic crash, and the three brothers said they were galled that their grandmothers house, which had been mortgaged by John Ginnane, was effectively owned by a bank.

As a result the three are seeking damages for alleged breach of duty and for alleged negligence.

Their action is against their father, John Ginnane, of Lohunda Park, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, who opposed the application. He denied any wrongdoing and said he had more than provided for his sons.