Probate

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 remaining on deposit in the account upon the death of the owners even though the signator herself had not been designated as an owner of the account. The Court of Appeals granted the Estate’s petition for rehearing “for the limited purpose of clarifying that we analyzed the designated evidence under the appropriate summary judgment standard of review, but used imprecise language in stating our conclusion. We hereby restate our conclusion in terms of the appropriate standard: The designated evidence does not raise a genuine issue of material fact as to [the account owner’s] intent with regard to [the signator’s] survivorship rights. We affirm our opinion in all other respects.”

A full text copy of the opinion on rehearing handed down on February 27, 2009 can be found here.