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Court Error – Issue Preclusion

By: Derek Hawkins//March 1, 2022//

Court Error – Issue Preclusion

By: Derek Hawkins//March 1, 2022//

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: Amy Cady Krech v. Kimberly A. Mitchell, et al.,

Case No.: 2021AP65

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

Focus: Court Error – Issue Preclusion

Amy Cady-Krech appeals an order excluding her as an heir of the Estate of Michael Mikulewicz, who died intestate. Cady-Krech presented evidence raising a rebuttable presumption that Mikulewicz was her father. She further asserted that he raised her and treated her as his daughter. Based on DNA evidence, however, the circuit court found that Cady-Krech was not Mikulewicz’s biological daughter. The court further found that Mikulewicz did not adopt Cady-Krech. The court therefore concluded that Cady-Krech did not qualify as Mikulewicz’s heir for purposes of intestate succession.

Cady-Krech argues that the circuit court should not have permitted DNA testing, or considered the test results, because issue preclusion barred the parties from relitigating Cady-Krech’s status as Mikulewicz’s daughter. Cady-Krech also argues that even if issue preclusion does not apply, the court erred by concluding that she does not qualify as Mikulewicz’s heir under the statutes governing intestate succession. Finally, Cady-Krech asserts that public policy considerations required the court to include her as one of Mikulewicz’s heirs. We reject each of Cady-Krech’s arguments and affirm.

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.

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