In re Estate of White
In the Matter of the Estate of Barbara Jean White
Rowan Sean Piper, f/k/a Nathan John Marcy, appellant
Attorney for Appellant
Rowan Sean Piper, self-represented appellant
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Bower, S.J. Opinion by Badding, P.J. (9 pages)
A party appeals the denial of his petition to open a small estate in probate. OPINION HOLDS: Because the petition only challenges one of the independent grounds for the denial of his petition, we affirm the denial under the unchallenged grounds. SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I join the court’s well-reasoned opinion in full but write separately to emphasize three points. First, our opinion affirming does not prevent Piper from filing a new petition. Second, we do not decide that a party must be represented by an attorney to petition to open administration of a small probate estate. And third—contrary to Piper’s assumption—it does not appear that the district court dismissed his petition because he lacked an attorney either.