Son awarded £300,000 after suing father over farm row

Wednesday 19 September 2012

A pensioner farmer has been ordered to pay his son £300,000 following a long-running feud over the family business.

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John McIrvine Jnr brought legal proceedings against his father – John McIrvine Snr – after a dispute over how cash was being spent in the running of an Aberdeenshire farm. Papers lodged with Aberdeen Sheriff Court revealed that Mr McIrvine Snr, 77, had transferred the ownership of Culdrain Farm to his late wife and son when he was made bankrupt in 1989.

But he continued to operate the farm and run it as if he was still the owner and did not consult with his son on major business decisions. The relationship between the pair broke down and came to a head when the pensioner decided to stop business operations at Culdrain Farm, in Gartly, in May 2006.His son claimed his father had spent excessive sums of cash and kept machinery and cattle owned by him and decided to sue. It has now emerged that Mr McIrvine Jnr has been awarded £300,000 by his father, of Culdrain Lodge.Sheriff Annella Cowan, who dealt with the case, said in a ruling published yesterday: "This is certainly an unfortunate case involving a family dispute. It is entirely clear from the circumstances and evidence of the defender [Mr McIrvine Snr] that he has chosen to ignore the true legal position and has, from the point of his sequestration, tried to carry on as if nothing untoward had occurred."Sheriff Cowan said she did not find Mr McIrvine a credible or reliable witness during the court hearing. She said he presented himself as a man who considered himself fully entitled to behave in the way he did towards his son.She added: "Although I have little sympathy for the defender's approach in this matter, I consider the pursuer's approach is also flawed."

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Son awarded £300,000 after suing father over farm row

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