Probate disputes can involve many challenging aspects however when these types of disputes include the hazardous cocktail of family and land, the temperature tends to rise a notch or two.
Some time ago I mediated a case that had been in and out of the High Court for nearly 10 years. The context was a rural Irish family with a small land holding and a family home above a small village pub and shop. Six children had been raised in the house by their hard-working parents. Much to the family’s prowess and joy, the first child was called to the priesthood and subsequently went to the Missions in Africa. The next four children enjoyed good third level education in various colleges in Ireland and the final child stayed at home to run the small farm and the pub/shop.
Decades passed by and life was trotting along its merry way until sometime after the demise of the father and before the demise of the mother, the first son decided to depart the priesthood and go to England where he got married. His elderly mother was unhappy with his actions and rewrote her Will to exclude him from any benefit. Unhappy with this, the eldest son brought a legal challenge against the revised Will.
Many years later, after the accumulation of significant litigation costs, a Judge in the High Court decreed that the eldest son had a bone fide right to challenge the Will but ‘suggested’ that the Parties, the oldest and youngest sons, go to mediation. The timing of the lengthy litigation coincided with the rise and fall of the Celtic Tiger – the economic crash in 2008. This meant that the family silver which had grown in value during the prosperous years and then crashed in value by the time the Parties entered mediation.
At the mediation both attended along with their legal representatives. The eldest son and his very angry wife, despite strong encouragement from me acting as Mediator, refused to engage with the youngest son unless money was agreed in advance. If the youngest son agreed to pay the money requested by his brother he would have had to sell the pub and farm and leave him and his own young family bereft.
In order to progress matters at the mediation, I felt it was essential to have theto the two brothers together in a meeting with me alone. Eventually in mid-afternoon I managed to cajole them together. Unexpectedly the elder brother stood up and preached, as if he were back in the pulpit, to his younger brother shouting “the Devil’s work”, “God is watching you” and the like. I was taken aback. The younger brother was speechless and looked terrified. I allowed the dust to silently settle and asked the former priest “Is God in the room now?” – more silence.
Miraculously, we settled the matter there and then. A sum of money held in the Executors Bank Account forming part of the Estate (the only liquid asset) was used partly to pay an amount to the older brother and partly to the two firms of solicitors for their legal fees. A legally binding Settlement Agreement was written up by the lawyers. This included a small annual stipend for the older brother and an open invitation for him to stay at the homestead on the family farm facilitating possible extended family reconnection.
It was very sad that this family had to go through such an ordeal over a very long, stressful and costly time. They are not the first family to suffer and won’t be the last. However, it does tell us that even a long-standing, challenging and emotionally charged dispute can hugely benefit from a carefully handled mediation process which can deliver humane results for those willing to engage.
