We have written detailed reviews of Iowa law impacting agricultural producers and landowners. Access these reviews by clicking on the tiles below. You can also review Iowa cases on a particular subject by searching our list of Iowa case law reviews at the bottom of this page.
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All fifty states have adopted a version of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA). State legislatures adopted these acts to encourage the making of anatomical gifts and to govern “dignified disposition of human remains.” The drafters of the UAGA anticipated problems between an independent donor’s decision and the interests of surviving family members and specified that the surviving family has rights to the remains only after the donor’s intent is satisfied. Iowa adopted the UAGA in 1968 and the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (RUAGA) in 2007 (codified at Iowa Code Ch. 142C.)
Here, an 84-year-old man worth nearly $2.5 million disputed the actions of his conservator (a bank) with respect to his stock portfolio. About half of the ward’s entire net worth consisted of stock in ExxonMobil. The conservator determined that it was unwise to hold such a concentration of one stock and recommended a liquidation plan, whereby at least 10% of the stock would be sold each year until the total holdings of the stock were 10% of the estate. The ward, through his guardian, opposed the bank’s plan.
Normally, attorney’s fees for probate work in Iowa are capped at 2% of the net worth of the estate. In some cases, the estate is so complex and requires so much time that extraordinary legal fees may be awarded by the court.
In this case, a father died and left the remainder of his estate (after funeral expenses and costs) equally to his three children. The will was admitted to probate, and named one of the children as executor. Creditors and beneficiaries were notified. Months later, the executor filed a separate action in the trial court to have his father’s will set aside. The executor named his two sisters as defendants in the action. One of the sisters asked the court to remove her brother as executor.
This case involves issues of a mother’s competence to make a will and convey property by deed. Here, one of the sons (the executor of his mother’s will) appealed the trial court’s ruling that set aside his mother’s 2004 will in which she conveyed the homestead residence to him.
A longstanding legal rule is that if language contained in a testamentary instrument (such as a will or testamentary trust) is unclear as to the disposition of probate assets, the court should try to determine the testator’s intent based on extrinsic evidence that helps explain the language. But, that rule applies to assets that are properly disposed of by the testamentary instrument. Some assets are not governed by testamentary instruments – they are non-probate assets. For example, they have a designated beneficiary or a survivorship designation. The language in a will has no impact o
In Iowa, the “Slayer Statute” was enacted in 1987 to prevent murderers from inheriting property from an estate they are otherwise entitled to inherit from. In pertinent part, Iowa Code §633.535 provides that:
Here, three siblings of the decedent objected to the last will and testament of their brother, claiming that he was unduly influenced by two cousins and lacked testamentary capacity when he made a will giving his entire estate to his cousins and appointing them as executors of his estate. The will was executed and signed by the decedent in 2004, specifically providing that his siblings were not to inherit under his estate.
This case involved an examination of the question of whether a surviving spouse may transfer land during life in contravention of mutual wills that had been previously executed with the now-deceased spouse. The mutual wills were executed in 1987, and specified that the entire estate, including nearly 12 acres, would go to the survivor of the two and upon the death of the surviving spouse the property would be distributed between their children from prior relationships.
In this case, the beneficiaries of a trust appeal from a trial court order denying their objection to a 2008 annual report and denying their application to remove a bank as trustee. The trust was created under a will executed in 1994 by a husband and wife to provide for their daughter during her life. After the daughter’s death, the remaining assets were to pass to her children, the couples’ grandsons.
Updated July 29, 2010
The decedent died in 1998. At the time of his death he had two sons that were named as beneficiaries of his life insurance policy. The decedent’s estate was probated but, of course, the life insurance policy was not included in the probate estate – it’s “bypass” or “will substitute” property via the beneficiary designations. After payment of administrative expenses, the estate lacked the funds to pay the federal and Iowa estate taxes. When it was closed, the estate was insolvent, and the two surviving sons did not inherit any probate assets.
The decedent died in 1999 leaving a will which gave his wife a life use of all real estate that he owned. The remainder interest in most of the property went to several other family members equally. A separate provision of the will stated that the plaintiffs would have the first right to purchase 80 acres of farmland “at the appraised value in the Estate.” The right of purchase was to last for four months from the date of the decedent’s death. The 80-acre parcel was valued at $140,600 at the time of decedent’s death.
In this case, a substitute postal carrier slipped and fell on the defendants’ property when he was attempting to deliver their mail. Apparently, the postal carrier slipped on the defendants’ steps which were covered with leaves. The postal carrier filed suit in 2007, alleging that the defendants were negligent in maintaining their property.
In order to close an estate admitted to probate in Iowa, the executor must prepare and file a final report. Here, a married couple had four sons between them, but only one child was a child of the marriage. The husband died in 1996, followed by his wife in 1998. The wife deeded her home to their biological son and appointed him executor of her estate. The remainder of her estate was divided equally among all four sons. The executor sold his mother’s home for $58,500.