Judge urges mother and children to resolve Will dispute over legendary jockey’s estate

High Court judge has urged a mother and her four children to try and resolve a dispute concerning the valuable estate of the late amateur jockey Bunny Cox.Bunny Cox was one of the greatest amateur riders in the history of Irish National Hunt racing, riding his first winner aged 13 in 1938 and continued his success winning five further amateur championships.

Mr Cox sadly passed away in January 2006 at the age of 81, however his loved ones are still disputing his Will. He had appointed three Executors of his estate, one of whom was his wife, Sally Cox. Anthony Toomey was later appointed by the court as Administrator due to the death of one Executor, and the illness of another.

In 2005, Mr Cox had transferred the house and lands he owned from sole ownership to the joint names of himself and his wife. This means on his death the property and lands would be passed to his wife, and the property and land could not be disposed of via Will. It is argued that Mr Cox was procured by undue influence when consenting to the Deed of Transfer, and suffering from ill health as well as not having the benefit of independent legal advice.

After the joint ownership was put in place, Mr Cox allegedly made a last Will on June 11th 2005 and a codicil on August 17th 2005. Under this Will, it is said that Mr Cox left 50% of his house and lands to his wife, 10% to each of his three daughters, and 20% in Trust for his son. It is also claimed that when this last Will was being prepared and executed, Mr Cox had represented himself as sole owner of the property and land.In response, Mrs Cox states that her husband was not acting voluntarily when executing the Will, and was procured by duress by their daughters Jennifer and Michelle. She continues by saying the June 2005 Will was a "radical departure" from previous Wills, and that she and her late husband had made mirror wills previously. She concluded that Mr Cox acted freely, with the necessary capacity when transferring the assets into joint ownership and that it was in consideration of the natural love and affection between herself and her husband.

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Written by Countrywide Tax & Trust Corporation Ltd