Justia Trusts & Estates Opinion Summaries

Husband obtained a purchase-money mortgage from Bank to invest in commercial real estate. Wife's signature was forged in executing the purchase-money mortgage. After Husband's death, Bank attempted to foreclose its mortgage, but Husband's Estate and Wife asserted Wife's fraudulent signature voided the mortgage. The district court (1) granted Bank summary judgment, concluding its purchase-money mortgage was superior to Wife's statutory dower interest and the Estate's other debts and charges; and (2) ordered any excess sale proceeds to be paid to the Estate. The court of appeals (1) affirmed the award of summary judgment; but (2) reversed the district court's determination that the foreclosure sale surplus be paid to the Estate, instead holding that Wife's statutory dower interest took priority over the Estate's other debts and charges. The Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals, holding that a surviving spouse's dower interest, codified in Iowa Code 633.211 as to nonhomestead real property, was not subject to the debts and charges of the Estate of the spouse who died intestate.

An executor brought a cause of action against a bank for failing to obtain approval for investments it made on behalf of the deceased when the deceased was under conservatorship and the bank acted as conservator. The district court dismissed the executor's claim. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the conservator's failure to seek prior approval of the investment of the ward's property under Iowa Code 633.647 did not, in and of itself, make the conservator personally liable for losses caused by the investment; (2) to find the conservator personally liable for losses caused by an investment, the executor must prove a breach of fiduciary duty under Iowa Code 633.633A; and (3) in this case, the executor failed to prove a breach of fiduciary duty.

During the administration of Ralph Roethler's estate, the executor of the estate did not notify Becky and Kent Lewis that Roethler's will gave the Lewises a first right to purchase eighty acres of farmland. The Lewises later sought to reopen Ralph Roethler's etate to allow them to exercise the option. The district court held that the Lewises met the statutory grounds set out in Iowa Code 633.489 to reopen the estate. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the Lewises' petition to reopen was time-barred. On review, the Supreme Court vacated the decision of the court of appeals and affirmed the district court's judgment, holding (1) the Lewises' petition to reopen satisfied the statutory grounds set forth in section 633.489 to reopen an estate, and (2) the district court properly construed the will to permit the Lewises to exercise their first right of purchase irrespective of the executor's intent to sell the land.