Estate – Beneficiary

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: Debra James v. Estate of Robert Wicke, et al.

Case No.: 2016AP2184

Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Seidl, JJ.

Focus: Estate – Beneficiary

The Estate of Robert Wicke appeals a grant of summary judgment in favor of Debra James, the trustee of certain trusts established by Norman Wicke and approved by the circuit court in a prior Taylor County case. Each of the trusts contained an in terrorem clause that required a beneficiary to forfeit his or her share if he or she, directly or indirectly, contested or opposed the validity of the instrument or continued any legal proceedings to set aside the instrument. The circuit court concluded Robert had forfeited his share in two trusts by challenging them in the prior case. That challenge included Robert’s filing of an appeal from an adverse judgment, in which we rejected Robert’s arguments on the merits, and his petitioning the Wisconsin Supreme Court for review of our decision. We conclude the circuit court properly granted Debra’s summary judgment motion, and we therefore affirm.

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.