Article on Estate Law–Balancing the Competing Interests of Efficiency, Finality, and Freedom of Disposition in Ancillary Administration Proceedings: Lon V. Smith Foundation v. Devon Energy Corp., 2017 WY 121, 403 P.3d 997 (Wyo. 2017)

Kaylee Harmon recently published a Case Note entitled, Estate Law–Balancing the Competing Interests of Efficiency, Finality, and Freedom of Disposition in Ancillary Administration Proceedings: Lon V. Smith Foundation v. Devon Energy Corp, 2017 WY 121, 403 P.3d 997 (Wyo. 2017), 18 Wyo. L. Rev. 379-406 (2018). Provided below is the introduction of the Case Note.

Although you cannot take it with you when you go, American succession laws permit the next best thing—the power to decide who will receive your possessions when you are gone. This notion of fulfilling donative intent permeates American probate laws, and its breadth is nearly unparalleled by any other modern legal system. Policymakers have gone to great lengths to ensure that probate procedures accommodate the freedom of disposition, only permitting outright restraints in certain limited circumstances. So, testators can rest easy knowing their property will be dispersed according to their wishes, right? Unfortunately, there may still be cause for concern. Over time, states have unwittingly undermined donative intent by attempting to balance the freedom of  disposition with other interests. This has called into question the legitimacy of the American premise that “freedom of disposition is paramount and the courts have no power to deviate from a person’s will.”

The Wyoming Supreme Court recently grappled with this dilemma in the context of ancillary probate administration. In Lon V. Smith Foundation v. Devon Energy Corp., the Wyoming Supreme Court settled a controversy between named beneficiaries as to the rightful ownership of certain Wyoming real property listed within a testator’s will. The dispute resolution focused primarily on a determination of which instrument—the testator’s will or a conflicting foreign decree adopted during ancillary probate administration proceedings—governed the disposition of the estate’s assets. This case presented an opportunity for the Wyoming Supreme Court to examine the interplay between Wyoming’s interest in upholding the freedom of disposition and the efficient operation of ancillary probate proceedings under Wyoming Statute § 2-11-201.T he court ultimately concluded that the foreign probate decree adopted by the Natrona County District Court pursuant to Wyoming Statute § 2-11-201 controlled the distribution of Wyoming real property, notwithstanding the decree’s failure to distribute the real property in accordance with the testator’s will.

This case note examines concerns stemming from the operation of Wyoming ancillary probate statutes as seen through the Wyoming Supreme Court’s holding. It first provides a brief description of the history behind Wyoming probate laws, followed by a discussion of the ancillary administration proceedings available in Wyoming. Next, it gives a summary of the facts, holding, and analysis in Lon V. Smith Foundation v. Devon Energy Corp. It argues the court’s holding in Lon V. Smith Foundation was correct based upon the present language of Wyoming Statute § 2-11-201 and general probate principles. However, this case note further argues that Wyoming Statute § 2-11-201, as applied, incorrectly favors efficiency at the expense of accurately fulfilling the testator’s intent. Finally, this case note examines the legislative response to the principal case’s application of Wyoming Statute § 2-11-201 and proposes an amendment to the statute.