Estate – Personal Representative

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: Mary Nies, et al., Probate Services, LLC, et al.,

Case No.: 2020AP1411

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

Focus: Estate – Personal Representative

Mary Nies and Kay Nies-Toren, two of the six heirs to the Estate of Lois M. Nies, appeal from a final order denying their petition to have the circuit court order certain directions to the Estate’s personal representative. Mary and Kay argue that the circuit court erred by failing to order the personal representative to have an independent forensic investigation conducted into: (1) the sale of Lois’s farmland real estate; (2) the deposit of rental property proceeds payable to the Estate; (3) a life insurance policy paid as a result of their father Earl Nies’s death a few years earlier; and (4) the manner in which $1,050,100 of Lois’s cash was located and provided to the Estate. They also claim the court erred by failing to order the personal representative to produce the will of Earl Nies. Lastly, Mary and Kay argue the Hanaway Ross Law Firm (Hanaway Ross) should be removed as attorneys for the Estate. We reject all of Mary and Kay’s arguments and affirm.

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.