In the Matter of the Estate of Jerry Hatten.

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Beverly Toland's claim against Jerry Hatten's intestate estate. It held that the evidence did not clearly establish that any lifetime-support agreement required Hatten to leave Toland his house, and that his IRA designation substantially fulfilled any proven support obligation. The court also held that probate law, rather than the common-law property-division analysis used when domestic partners separate during life, governed because the relationship ended at Hatten's death.