A brother of Valerie French, who a jury found was murdered by her husband, has secured a court order permitting him to administer her estate.
Ms Justice Siobhán Stack, who manages the High Court’s probate list, granted the order to David French on Monday.
Mr French applied for the order after failing to get the consent of James Kilroy, who would normally be the personal legal representative of his wife’s estate, to Mr French taking out a grant of probate.
Kilroy (51), a former park ranger, was sentenced to life imprisonment in July last year for the murder of Ms French (41) at Kilbree Lower, Wesport, in Co Mayo in June 2019.
Verona Murphy: Motion of confidence in Ceann Comhairle passed in Dáil
High Court awards former Limerick hurler €950,000 over injuries sustained working for Johnson & Johnson
The underlying problem of boyhood is manhood
‘Ireland is a beautiful country. And for all the weirdness, I find the people to be really helpful’
On the night of Ms French’s murder, Kilroy attacked her with a knife and beat and strangled her in their rural home. Her young sons were in the house at the time.
Kilroy was found the following morning wandering naked in a nearby field. His wife’s body was found that afternoon in a camper van near their home.
At his trial at the Central Criminal Court, Kilroy pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but a jury rejected that defence.
At the High Court on Monday, counsel for Mr French said it seemed Kilroy wanted to make the appointment of Mr French “conditional” on his agreeing to a trust being set up for the couple’s three young sons, over whom Kilroy has guardianship rights.
The estate must be represented before that or any other steps could be taken, he said. There are other proceedings by Mr French but those are at an early stage, counsel added.
Kilroy has appealed his murder conviction but it was “significant” that his trial plea was that he had killed his wife but was temporarily insane due to the influence of narcotics, counsel said.
Ms French (41) died intestate, without having made a will, the court heard. As things stand for now, her estate comprises a half share in the family home, a car and an insurance policy, counsel said.
It seemed the trust as envisaged would comprise the entire house, counsel said. Mr French was “in principle” open to the possibility of some involvement by Kilroy’s sister in the trust, he added.
The circumstances are “very tragic” and there is some urgency to Mr French’s application, counsel said. A Bill has been proposed to change the law concerning the guardianship rights of those convicted of killing their spouses, he added.
Counsel for Kilroy said she was instructed to put the trust proposal before the court. Her client was not trying to control the administration of the trust, his concern was that, after getting letters last October from Mr French’s solicitors regarding what was to be in the trust, he had received nothing further about the creation of the trust.
When the judge said nothing could be done before the estate had an administrator, counsel said it was “beneficial” that she set out “the context”. There was “quite an acrimonious situation” between Kilroy’s parents and Mr French, and a concern that he would get custody of the children, she said.
Ms Justice Stack said Mr French’s application to take out a general grant of probate was “appropriate” and she would grant it. The question of who becomes trustees of the proposed trust can only be dealt with after the grant of probate is taken out, she said.
Mr French has campaigned for political parties to introduce “Valerie’s Law”, under which parents who intentionally kill their partners would lose guardianship rights of their shared children. He is also seeking legal changes to ensure that people convicted of killing their spouse are not entitled to their property assets.
