Estate of Goick 275 Mont. 13, 909 P.2d 1165 (1996) • Michael and Barbara Goicks were married and had three kids. Michael filed for divorce. • They told everybody (including the judge) they considered themselves divorced. • While the two were going through the court procedures to finalize the divorce, Michael died. • They both agreed that the marriage was over, but they hadn't finished splitting up the assets and signing the paperwork. • Barbara moved to dismiss the divorce proceedings, and then filed a petition for adjudication of intestacy. • As the surviving spouse, she was entitled to a share, and was appointed the decedent's personal representative. • Barbara entered a distribution agreement with the kids' guardian ad litem to split the estate. • A guardian ad litem is a court appointed representative to look after the interests of a minor in situations like this. • Michael's mother, brother and sister filed an objection, claiming that Barbara was not a surviving spouse. • The Trial Court granted summary judgment to Barbara. Michael's relatives appealed. • The Montana Supreme Court affirmed. • The Montana Supreme Court found that Michael's relatives were not successors to the estate and they had no legal interest in the distribution of the estate. • Further, the Court found that a divorce decree cannot be based on an oral agreement, so the Goick's were not divorced until the paperwork was signed, no matter what they were saying. • Michael's relatives unsuccessfully argued that Barbara should be barred by equitable estoppel from claiming that she was not divorced when she had previously claimed that she was in the Divorce Court. • Since Barbara had never officially gotten a divorce according to Montana law, she wasn't taking an inconsistent position. • Michael's relatives unsuccessfully argued that Barbara had a conflict of interest because she stood to get money while she was also the personal representative. • There is nothing barring a person from acting as a personal representative even if they stand to inherit. Project Wonderful -Your ad here, right now, for as low as $0