William C. Harper v. Alice Lynn Harper Taylor

Summary

The court reversed an award requiring Harper to pay nearly $6.3 million in attorneys’ fees and costs. It held that the circuit court had subject-matter jurisdiction despite the timing of docketing and later certification of the probate records, but that fees could not be imposed because Harper presented sufficient evidence to submit his will contest to a jury. The court distinguished a genuinely meritless contest from an unsuccessful contest supported by evidence creating a fact question.