In re Guardianship & Conservatorship of Durand

William Krebes died in 2009, survived by his wife, Helen Durand. The next year, two of Durand’s children petitioned the district court for the appointment of a conservator for Durand because she lacked clarity of mind to make informed decisions regarding her late husband’s estate. The district court agreed and appointed a conservator. The conservator then filed an elective share petition on Durand’s behalf in the probate court. The personal representative of Krebes’s estate opposed the petition, arguing that the elective share statute, Minn. Stat. 524.2-212, required the conservator, before filing for Durand’s elective share in the probate proceeding, to obtain a court order authorizing the filing, and the conservator in this case did not do so. The district court granted summary judgment for the conservator, concluding that section 524.2-212 violated Durand’s equal protection rights because protected surviving spouses are treated differently than non-protected surviving spouses. The court of appeals reversed on the grounds that protected and non-protected surviving spouses are not similarly situated. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the distinction between protected and non-protected spouses in the section 524.2-212 does not violate equal protection under the Minnesota Constitution. View "In re Guardianship & Conservatorship of Durand" on Justia Law