Courts Decide Estate Disputes Across Four States

Several U.S. inheritance disputes have turned on whether wills were validly executed, revoked or changed, and whether earlier court orders can be reopened. Mississippi’s appeals court upheld Lamar DeLoach’s 2003 will, rejecting his brother’s claim that a later will had been made and destroyed; the will leaves most of the estate to two cousins and $100,000 to another beneficiary. In Minnesota, an appeals court ruled that a final 2017 decree awarding a 300-acre farm to a son could not be reopened, despite its issuance without required medical-assistance clearance, leaving the dispute over the father’s later will unresolved. In Washington, a judge set aside a wealthy developer’s 2019 will changes after finding two children financially exploited their father while he had dementia, reinstating an earlier will and disqualifying them from inheriting. Louisiana’s appeals court, by contrast, restored the validity of a 2015 will leaving a man’s property to his wife, finding that six children had not proved it invalid and sending the case back for further proceedings.