Welcome to the Alerding Castor Hewitt LLP probate litigation blog. The purpose of this blog is to provide a brief synopsis of recently decided opinions by the Indiana Supreme Court and Indiana Court of Appeals pertaining to probate litigation and will be updated on a regular basis. We invite you to subscribe to this blog; please subscribe by clicking on the RSS icon below. If you have any questions regarding probate litigation matters, you can contact us here.

You might have noticed that this blog has been very quiet for the past month. There are two reasons for this period of silence. First, probate litigation was not a signficant source of appellant decisions in June. Second, Alerding Caster LLP was given the honor and privilege of adding a new named partner as of June 28th: Brian Hewitt.
Brian is an extremely gifted attorney with over twenty years of experience and is an icon in the legal community. In fact, in 2009, Brian...Read More »
This provision deals with the spousal allowance and the old
version of the provision provided that:The surviving spouse of a decedent who was domiciled in Indiana at his death is entitled from the estate to an allowance of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). The allowance may be claimed against the personal property of the...Read More »
Estate of Margaret H. Prickett, Deceased v. Marilyn Prickett Womersley
71S03-0808-CV-419
Indiana law presumes that services provided by a family
member are rendered gratuitously. In this case, the Indiana Supreme
Court concluded that presumption cannot be rebutted by evidence
that the mother...Read More »
The Indiana Code
serves as the starting point for probate matters in general as well
as for probate litigation. For example, Indiana Code §
29-1-7-17 sets forth who may file a will contest, the grounds for a
will contest and the deadline when a will...Read More »
Sam died. His will provided $30,000 for an elaborate funeral. As the last guests departed the affair, his wife's oldest and dearest friend turned to her and said, "Well, I'm sure Sam would be pleased." Lowering her voice, she leaned in close. "How much did this really cost?"
"All of it," said Sam's wife. "Thirty thousand."
"No!" exclaimed the friend. "I mean, it was very nice, but $30,000???"
The wife answered, "The funeral was $6,500. I donated $500 to the church....Read More »
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently handed down a memorandum decision (not for publication) which probate attorneys considering the necessity of probate litigation may find of interest since it explores the distinction between a small estate affidavit and the actual opening of a probate estate:
Angela Foster v. Estate of Darlene
Shoemaker, Deceased, James Shoemaker, Personal representative
(NFP) 
04A05-0809-CV-562
In this matter, the decedent died intestate leaving an estate worth approximately...
Read More »Tower: "Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles!"
Delta 351: "Give us another hint! We have digital watches!"
**************************************************************************************************
Tower: "TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 degrees."
TWA 2341: "Center, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?"
Tower: "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?"
***************************...Read More »
Jerry Storey v. Theodore S. Leonas, Jr. and Leonas & Associates Ltd.
No. 46A03-0806-CV-300
The facts of this matter are somewhat unusual. An
Illinois resident died in an automobile accident in Indiana.
The other vehicle...Read More »Originally, I planned on posting humor on
Friday, but it seems that Monday may be the better day for a
chuckle. The original invitation remains, if the humor comes
directly to me from a subscriber email or comment, I'll give the
subscriber credit for the post. So send me the humor - keep it
clean (or relatively clean) and you may see your named posted
here.
Today's chuckle:
Dispute Between Neighbors (supposedly a true story)
A certain town councilor in Wales had a beautiful view of the mountains,...
Read More »While there have been no decisions lately from the appellant courts directly addressing probate litigation matters, the Indiana Supreme Court recently handed down a decision that probate attorneys may wish to consider in the context if the situation where a person assumes a duty to another person – a situation which can oftentimes arise in matters resulting in probate litigation.
Estate of Jerome Mintz v. Connecticut General Life Ins. Co. and Wayne E. Gruber
Case No. No. 49S05-0805-CV-214
This...
… courts must proceed with caution in analyzing these situations and that an automatic presumption that any adult child who assists an aging...Read More »
In the vast majority of probate litigation (especially will contests), the medical condition of the decedent will be at issue. Did the decedent have sufficient mental capacity to make the will? Was the decedent medicated on the day the will was executed? The list of issues that can arise from the decedent’s medical history can be substantive. As such, evidence of the decedent’s medical history can become extremely important. This leads to the question of what evidence of the...
Read More »In the Matter of the Stuart Cochran Irrevocable Trust; Chanell and Micaela Cochran v. Keybank, N.A.
No. 71A04-0806-CV-384

This matter involved an irrevocable trust established by a...Read More »
Probate attorneys, both
those involved in probate litigation as well as estate planning,
should consider the ramifications of the following
decision:
Rosemary Dean v. William T. Pelham, Pers. Rep. of the
Estate of William McNatt, Case No. 73A01-0806-CV-306 (Part
2)
This decision was previously discussed on this blog here. This decision was significant because the Indiana Court of Appeals determined that a person designated as a “signer” or “signator” on a bank account was entitled to the sum...
Read More »While not directly a probate litigation
decisions, the following decision may be of interest to some
probate attorneys since it involves a contested disinterment of a
deceased’s remains – an issue that can occasionally arise during
probate litigation.
E. Lee Warren, et al v. IOOF Cemetery, et al.
Case No. 02A03-0806-
CV-333
In 1970, the husband passed away and was buried in a Kentucky cemetery where the wife also planned to be buried. Sometime thereafter, the wife moved in with her daughter who...
Read More »Probate attorneys involved in probate
litigation (and perhaps all attorneys involved in any litigation
regardless of whether it involves probate, business law, trademark,
intellectual property or any other matter in litigation) may wish
to consider the following opinion:
James W. Smyth v. Judy G. Hester & Estate of Timothy P.
Brazil. Case
No. 29A02-0803-CV-237
This matter involved the trial court’s award of attorneys’ fees to an estate and an attorney for actions taken by a law firm on behalf...
Read More »
"Death is not the end. There remains
the litigation over the estate."
-Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce
(June 24, 1842 – 1914?)
My thanks to Christopher "CT" Stephen - Alerding Castor LLP's newly added attorney - for alerting me to this quote.
Read More »


