In re Estate of Ricard

Summary

The South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Renee Laas’s petition to set aside the informal probate of Ella Bernadette Ricard’s will and determine intestacy. The court held that the estate’s complete-settlement proceeding, conducted with notice and a hearing, constituted a formal probate proceeding and conclusively determined the validity of the will. Because Laas did not appeal the order for complete settlement, she could not later challenge the will under the statutory provisions governing formal testacy proceedings.

Holdings

1. A Petition for Complete Settlement conducted after notice and a hearing before a judge constitutes a formal probate proceeding when it requests determinations of testacy, heirs, accounting, settlement, and distribution, even if the estate began with informal probate and the petition's title refers to informal probate proceedings.
2. SDCL 29A-3-401(b) does not permit a petition to set aside informal probate and declare intestacy after the will has already been formally probated as to the issues raised in the petition.
3. The court declined to decide whether SDCL 29A-3-1001(a) would preclude an interested person from objecting to a personal representative's petition for complete settlement because Laas did not timely object below and presented only a hypothetical question.

Questions Presented

1. Whether an interested person may petition under SDCL 29A-3-401 to set aside an informal probate and declare intestacy after the estate has been completely settled in a formal probate proceeding.
2. Whether the circuit court's Order for Complete Settlement was a formal probate proceeding and was conclusive as to the validity of the will.
3. Whether SDCL 29A-3-1001(a) barred or permitted an objection to the personal representative's Petition for Complete Settlement.

Disposition

affirmed