No. 25-321

Jeanette A. Stengel, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Dale E. Stengel v. Heartland Bank

Lower Court: Nebraska
Docketed: 2025-09-18
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Tags: active-concealment discovery-rule due-process fourteenth-amendment fraud-claims probate-rule
Latest Conference: 2025-11-21
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. Whether a state probate rule barring a personal representative from invoking the discovery rule for fraud claims, based on the representative's knowledge rather than the decedent's, violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment when the decedent was fraudulently induced to act and the fraud could not have reasonably been discovered due to active concealment by the defendant.

2. Whether a state court's refusal to permit amendment of a complaint to allege fraudulent concealment violates the constitutional right of access to courts where the fraud claim otherwise could not be discovered before the decedent's death.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether a state probate rule barring a personal representative from invoking the discovery rule for fraud claims, based on the representative's knowledge rather than the decedent's, violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment when the decedent was fraudulently induced to act and the fraud could not have reasonably been discovered due to active concealment by the defendant

Docket Entries

2025-11-24
Petition DENIED.
2025-11-05
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/21/2025.
2025-07-10
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 20, 2025)

Attorneys

Jeanette Stengel
Darik J. Von LohHernandez Frantz, Von Loh, Petitioner