(relatives named in residuary clause of husband’s will filed an action seeking to reopen husband’s estate, which was closed 18 years earlier after full distribution to wife; relatives, who had not received formal notice of the probate proceedings argued that pursuant to Iowa Code §633.489’s “for any other proper cause appearing to the court” clause no statute of limitations barred their action; in reversing the lower courts’ decisions reopening the case, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that §633.488, which had a five-year statute of limitations, applied to the action because it applied to actions disputing the distribution of an estate, whereas §633.489 applied to actions disputing the administration of an estate; the Court stated that, if interpreted too broadly, §633. 489’s “other proper cause” clause would subsume §633.488’s five-year statute of limitations; the court also relied on the fact that §633.488, unlike §633.489, specifically applied to persons not receiving notice of a final accounting).
In re Sampson, No. 12-1340, 2013 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 113 (Iowa Sup. Ct. Oct. 25, 2013)
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