Re Stamp (Deceased); Stamp v Redmond

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: MR JUSTICE GERARD LARDNER
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1993
• Neutral Citation: 1993 WJSC-HC 1422
• Court: High Court
• Date: 01 January 1993

1993 WJSC-HC 1422

THE HIGH COURT

No.676Sp/1991

STAMP v. REDMOND

IN THE MATTER OF JOHN STAMP, DECEASED

BETWEEN

PATRICK STAMP

Plaintiff

AND

NOEL REDMOND (EXECUTOR) WILLIAM STAMP (TRUSTEE) AND JOHNSTAMP

Defendants

Citations:

ADOPTION (NO 2) BILL 1987, IN RE 1989 IR 663

ADOPTION ACT 1952 S26(2)

BERRY V FISHER 1903 IR 484

ADOPTION ACT 1952 S26

O'B V S 1984 IR 239

Synopsis:

WILL

Construction

Residue - Bequest - Gift over - Condition - Death of legatee without issue - Legatee's marriage childless - Adoption of child by legatee and wife - Grandson of testator entitled if condition satisfied - Determination of interest of grandson during lifetime of legatee - Adoption Act, 1952, s. 26 - (1991/676 Sp - Lardner J. - 30/7/92) - [1993] ILRM 383

|Stamp v. Redmond|

WORDS AND PHRASES

"Issue"

Residue - Bequest - Gift over - Condition - Death of legatee without issue - Legatee's marriage childless - Adoption of child by legatee and wife - Grandson of testator entitled if condition satisfied - Determination of interest of grandson during lifetime of legatee - (1991/676 Sp - Lardner J. - 30/7/92) - [1993] ILRM 383

|Stamp v. Redmond|

TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT

1 DELIVERED BY THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE GERARD LARDNERON 30TH JULY 1992

APPEARANCES

For the Plaintiff:

Frank Clarke SC

Barry Hickson BL

Instructed by

Redmond & Co.

For the First Defendant:

Tony O'Connor BL

Instructed by

Frizell O'Leary & Co.

For the Second and Third Defendants:

Padraig McCartan SC

Eamonn Mongey BL

Instructed by

John A Sinnott & Co.

2 By his last will and testament dated 22nd March 1954 John Stamp, having appointed his sons Philip, William and Patrick to be his executors and trustees, directed that his debts be paid and that his funeral and testamentary expenses be borne equally by his three sons Philip, William and Patrick. He provided that his wife was to have a right of residence in his house for her life and to be supported, clothed and maintained therein in the manner to which she was accustomed. He then directed that his sons Philip, William and Patrick were to pay a contribution in equal shares for the support, clothing and maintenance of his son Thomas.

3 There follows a devise and bequest which substantially completes the will. It devises and bequeaths all the testator's property of whatever kind real and personal to the executors and trustees upon trust for his son Patrick Stamp "provided always that if he shall die without leaving issue then upon trust for my grandson John Stamp", the son of Philip Stamp.

4 The testator died on 14th May 1954 aged 84 years. His will was duly proved. Patrick Stamp, the plaintiff, who was unmarried at the dates of the will and of his father's death, married two years afterwards. There have been no children of the marriage of Patrick and Kathleen Stamp but in 1965 they adopted a daughter, Mary Stamp, and in 1967 they adopted a second daughter, Elaine Stamp.

5 The issue raised in the Special Summons is whether the words "die without leaving issue" in the devise and bequest in the trust for Patrick Stamp means dying without children related by blood to Patrick Stamp, or descendants of Patrick Stamp, or whether it has a wider meaning which comprehends Patrick Stamp's two adopted daughters.

6 Patrick Stamp brings the Special Summons on his own behalf and on behalf of his adopted daughters and all persons who will take if the clause is given a wider meaning. The defendant John Stamp is the grandson mentioned in the clause to which I have already referred. It is agreed by all the parties that, although the event to which this disputed clause refers is still contingent, I should determine the issue raised, and in this case I think it is appropriate to do so.

7 For the plaintiff it was submitted that the Adoption Act of 1952, which became law on 13th December 1952 and made the first statutory provision for adoption in Irish law, effectually changed the scope and meaning of "family" so as to include adopted as well as legitimate children; that in the reference to it of the Adoption (No.2) Bill 1987 in [1989] I.R. 663, the Supreme Court recognised that the effect of an adoption order is that a child is taken out of the family it is born into and is incorporated into the adopting family, and that the policy of the law and...