A WOMAN has claimed before the High Court that she and her family were deprived of an expected €1.5 million inheritance of a 623-acre farm as a result of the death of her husband due to admitted negligence in his treatment for colitis disease at University College Hospital, Galway.
Michael Davoren (47) was an only son who had worked the family farm all his life and was to inherit it. When his mother Maura died three years after him in 2006, her farm and estate passed to her only daughter, Mary, the court was told.
Liability in relation to the treatment of Mr Davoren has been admitted by two doctors – consultant gastroenterologist John Lee and consultant surgeon Oliver McAnena, both of whom worked at the hospital – and Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill has been asked to assess damages for Ms Davoren and her family.
As a result of her husband’s death, Grace Davoren, a mother of four, from Ballyvaughan, Co Clare, claims she is entitled to €1.8 million damages, including some €275,000 for loss of dependency and €1.5 million due to lost inheritance.
The defendants argue that because Ms Davoren had inherited her husband’s own 269-acre farm, she was not entitled to monies for loss of dependency.
Denis McCullough SC, for Ms Davoren, said unfortunately Maura Davoren “apparently blamed her son’s widow in some way for the death of her husband”.
The case continues today.