An Irish High Court Justice recently appointed a guardian ad litem to represent the best interests of a farmer who sold his property and gave most of the money to the poor because God told him he would go to Heaven.
Giving to charity is commendable, but some people’s generosity can seem suspicious in certain situations. Take the case of an Irish farmer in his 40s who sold his property a few months ago for about €600,000 ($700,000) and has already given more than half of that money to the poor. The farmer, whose name has not been revealed by the media, had allegedly been told by God to give away all of his money, and if he did so, he would get to heaven. Taking that heavenly message to heart, he sold his farm and has been busy giving away his fortune ever since. Justice Michael Twomey heard that just last week, the farmer gave €1,000 cash to a homeless woman he met, and that in a matter of weeks, his bank account balances had dropped significantly.
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“His bank accounts are literally haemorrhaging cash. I have received a phone call just this morning revealing that in one of the accounts, there is now an overdraft of €65,000 ($75,000),” solicitor Katherine Kelleher told the Court. “The situation is that in a short number of weeks, he has again given away added sums in the region of €38,000.”
Of the €600,000 he got for his farm, the man only had €250,000 ($290,000), and he would likely give aya every last cent to secure his place in Heaven. On behalf of the Irish Government Agency Health Service Executive, Kelleher asked the High Court to appoint a guardian ad litem to protect the farmer from himself and his generosity.
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Guardians ad litem are independent persons appointed by the Court for the duration of Court proceedings to represent the best interests of the people they are appointed to. In light of the evidence presented in Court, Justice Michael Twomey agreed to appoint a guardian and let them take all the steps considered necessary to help the man.
The Court will reconvene in September. Meanwhile, the man cannot be identified by order of the Court.
