Justia Trusts & Estates Opinion Summaries

Appellants appealed the order of the district court denying their motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction over the estate of their father, the decedent. At issue was whether the district court erred when it assumed subject matter jurisdiction over the probate of the estate when the decedent was an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe and all of his estate property was located within the exterior boundaries of the Blackfeet Reservation at the time of his death. The court overruled State ex rel. Iron Bear v. District Court and held that the Blackfeet Tribal Court had exclusive jurisdiction over the probate of the decedent's estate and assumption of subject matter jurisdiction by the district court was impermissible because Montana and the Blackfeet Tribe had not taken the necessary steps for Montana to assume civil jurisdiction over the Blackfeet Reservation.

This case involves two competing wills made slightly over one month apart near the end of the decedent's life. The district court granted the estate's personal representative Roger Harmon's motion for summary judgment in favor of the probate of a will executed by the decedent Cecilia Harmon in January, 2009. The court dismissed Appellant Dennis Waitt' s formal petition to probate a handwritten document Waitt claimed was a valid holographic will executed by the decedent in December, 2008, and denied Waitt's motion to vacate, alter or amend the order granting summary judgment in favor of Harmon. Waitt produced affidavits alleged to have contained the decedent's wishes in drafting the holographic will, but the affidavits were excluded as hearsay. On review of the record, the Supreme Court held that Waitt did not present sufficient evidence to demonstrate the existence of a genuine issue of material fact required to defeat the summary judgment, and affirmed the lower court's decision.