Dentons partner and litigator Elizabeth Meyer prevailed on behalf of her client at the Iowa Court of Appeals in a probate dispute.  

About the case

Elizabeth represented an executor and estate beneficiary who filed her brother’s 2016 will for probate. This was the last will he had executed before his death. Ultimately, this 2016 will was contested in court and set aside on the grounds of lack of capacity and undue influence. The decedent’s 2012 will was then substituted for probate.

Afterward, the will contestant attempted to eliminate the executor’s inheritance by imposing the no contest provision contained in the 2012 will. This is a will provision that may deprive a beneficiary of their inheritance if they challenge the will after the decedent’s death. The contestant argued that since the executor originally filed the 2016 will for probate, which was then later set aside, she had contested the 2012 will. The district court denied this request, finding that the executor had not contested the earlier will, and the contestant appealed.

On appeal, the Iowa Court of Appeals agreed that filing the last in-time will for probate, with no evidence that the executor had known the last will was invalid, did not trigger the application of the no contest provision in the earlier will.

What this means for clients

This case confirms that the appropriate procedure in Iowa is for a decedent’s last in-time will be filed for probate, and the opportunity provided for it to be contested. This discourages a “race to the courthouse” where heirs may have differing opinions about the validity of different wills signed by a decedent.

It also confirms that a party who files a will for probate, with no actual knowledge that the document is facially invalid, will not be deemed to have “contested” an earlier will for purposes of applying a no contest provision, even if the final will be ultimately set aside through a will contest.

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