Kappus v. Kappus

James Kappus and his brother John owned real estate together as cotenants, and James's will named John (plaintiff) as executor of his estate and trustee of a testamentary trust for his children. After James died, John began probate proceedings intending to sell the jointly owned real estate and split the proceeds evenly between himself and the estate. James's ex-wife Sandra, acting for their children (defendants), objected that the estate deserved a bigger share because of improvements James had made to the property, and sought to have John removed as executor based on his conflict of interest as a co-owner. The trial court declined to remove John but awarded the estate a somewhat larger share of the proceeds; the court of appeals affirmed that division but reversed on removal, holding John's ownership conflict mandated his removal. John appealed the removal ruling.