Relatives win claim to half of £2.4m estate

RELATIVES of a woman who died 12 hours after her husband have won a Supreme Court claim to be entitled to half of his £2

RELATIVES of a woman who died 12 hours after her husband have won a Supreme Court claim to be entitled to half of his £2.4 million estate.

The action concerned the estate of Mr Thomas Cummins, Patrick Street, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, who had an 80 per cent interest in the Victor Hotel, Rochestown Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, and owned other property.

Mr Cummins died on February 2nd, 1995. His widow, Mrs Kathleen Cummins, who died 12 hours later, had been in a coma at the time of his death. She died without having regained consciousness. Her estate had a net value of £371,000.

Mr Cummins made no provision for his wife in his will. In the High Court, Mr Justice Kelly was asked to interpret Section 3 of the 1965 Succession Act. He rejected a claim by Mrs Cummins's relatives that under the Act she was entitled as "a legal right" to half of her husband's estate. The relatives appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.

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Mr Justice Barron, giving the court's judgment, said Mrs Cummins had not renounced her rights, nor had she been disentitled. The court decided Mrs Cummins had a "legal right" to a half share in the estate of her husband.