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No. 97-297
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
1997

IN RE ESTATE OF DAVID BENNIE HAAGENSON,
Deceased.

APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Fourth Judicial District,
In and for the County of Missoula,
The Honorable John W. Larson, Judge presiding.

COUNSEL OF RECORD:
For Appellants:
Bradley D. Dantic; Worden, Thane & Haines;
Missoula, Montana
For Respondent:
Michael Sol; Sol & Wolfe Law Firm;
Missoula, Montana
Guardian Ad Litem:
Alice E. Kennedy; Attorney at Law; Missoula, Montana

Submitted on Briefs: November 6, 1997

Decided: November 25, 1997
Filed:

__________________________________________
Clerk

Justice Terry N. Trieweiler delivered the opinion of the Court.

Sara and Benjamin Haagenson filed a petition in the District Court for the
Fourth

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Judicial District in Missoula County in which they sought removal of Darla
Zenker-Haagenson as personal representative, and for supervised administration of the
Estate of David B. Haagenson. Following a hearing, the petition was denied. Sara
and
Benjamin appeal. We affirm the order of the District Court.

The issue on appeal is whether the District Court abused its discretion when it
denied the appellants' petition.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND

David B. Haagenson and Kathy Finneman married in 1974. They had two
children, Sara and Benjamin, who are now 18 and 17 years old, respectively. David
and
Kathy divorced in August 1988. Afterward, they shared joint custody and support of
the
children.

In November 1988, David married Darla Zenker. In April 1991, David suffered
a heart attack and stroke from which he was permanently disabled. He lost much of
his
ability to speak, write, and read, as well as many other motor functions.
Nonetheless,
David maintained his ability to drive and remained intellectually competent.
Shortly after
he became disabled, he and Darla stopped living together. During the following
years,
both David and Darla expressed their desire to divorce, and Darla filed a petition
for
dissolution of marriage with the District Court in April 1996, two weeks before
David's
death. However, due to David's hospitalization, she did not inform David of the
petition
and ultimately withdrew it. At the time of David's death on April 30, 1996, they
were
still married.

After David's disability, he and Darla brought a malpractice action against the
doctors who had been responsible for his treatment following his heart attack and
stroke.
The suit was eventually settled for approximately $900,000; Darla received
approximately
$200,000; and David received approximately $700,000. The parties to the settlement
were bound by a confidentiality agreement not to disclose specific details of the
settlement, although the terms of the agreement permitted disclosure to immediate
family
members.

After David received the settlement funds, he established a conservatorship at
First
Trust Company of Montana to protect and manage most of his financial affairs.
David's
parents and Kathy were under the impression from David that a trust of some type had
also been established to provide for the children, although none had actually been
created.
Despite the requests of Darla, Sara and Benjamin, and other family members, David did
not have a will prepared or do any other estate planning prior to his death at age
forty-two in April 1996.

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On June 5, 1996, Darla applied to the District Court for appointment as personal
representative of David's estate, and she was appointed. Darla continued to use
First
Trust Company of Montana to administer the estate. She gave public notice to
potential
creditors of the estate and paid all creditor claims, except four claims made by the
appellants in November 1996. She also arranged for an auction of items from the
estate
and sold David's new truck; all proceeds from the sales and from other assets of the
estate were deposited with First Trust Company of Montana.

In January 1997, the appellants filed a petition for removal of Darla as
personal
representative and for supervised administration of the estate. After a hearing on
March
28, 1997, the District Court denied the petition.

DISCUSSION
Did the District Court abuse its discretion when it denied the appellants'
petition?

We review a district court's decision regarding removal of a personal
representative to determine whether the district court has abused its discretion.
See In
re Estate of Peterson (1994), 265 Mont. 104, 108, 874 P.2d 1230, 1232; In re Estate
of
Nelson (1990), 243 Mont. 276, 278, 794 P.2d 677, 678; In re Estate of Stone (1986),
223 Mont. 327, 330, 727 P.2d 508, 511.

Pursuant to

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Montana Law