Court Opinion

ID: 9670774
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:25:57.681218+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:06.432147
License: Public Domain

WOLLMAN, Justice
(dissenting).
I would reverse the order appealed from.
The nine-month limitation fixed by SDCL 43-4-30 (originally six months, see 1968 S.D.Sess.Laws ch. 254, § 2(1)) was obviously established to correlate with the provisions of the federal estate tax laws and should not be determinative of the validity of an otherwise valid disclaimer. Indeed, SDCL 43-4-34 specifically provides that an untimely filed disclaimer operates as an assignment of the interest disclaimed.
It is understandable why Mrs. Berg should have had a change of heart several months later, given the nature of her marital relationship at the time of her husband’s untimely death. There was no finding of fraud, misrepresentation, or duress on the part of Mrs. Zuraff, however, and accordingly the disclaimer should be upheld as valid.