Probate

Probate attorneys considering the effect of adoptions in probate litigation may want to consider the following opinion:

In Re the Paternity of Maria E. Duran: Baltasar Regalado v. Maria E. Duran and First National Bank of Valparaiso, et al.  Case No. 64A03-0702-JV-66

This matter involved both a paternity proceeding and an estate administration.  The estate was of the biological father of a daughter who had previously been adopted by the parents of her biological mother.  The daughter sought to...

Probate attorneys considering challenging or defending nonprobate transfers in probate litigation may want to consider the following opinion:

Gary Lewis v. Alvis Wynn, Case No.10A01-0804-CV-157

This case involved a tragic set of circumstances where a husband separated from his wife shot and killed his wife’s daughter (his step-daughter) and then himself.  Several investment accounts, either in the husband’s name or held jointly with the wife, passed to the wife outside the husband’s estate.  The...

Probate attorneys involved in probate litigation which generates other litigation may want to consider this opinion:

Bank One v. Jeannene Surber, Case No. 29A04-0712-CV-711

This action was predicated on the claim that Bank One was negligent and breached its contract with plaintiff by losing a signature card to a bank account which, but for Bank One’s actions, would have passed directly to plaintiff upon her husband’s death rather than into her husband’s estate.  This fact pattern spawned two...

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

In this case, the Indiana Court of Appeals held 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...