## Facts

- Joseph Hanreddy died testate while domiciled in Illinois.
- Hanreddy’s widow was appointed executrix in the Illinois (domiciliary) probate proceeding.
- In Illinois, creditors filed claims exceeding $50,000, while the estate’s Illinois assets did not exceed about $4,000.
- The widow then sought and obtained appointment as executrix in an ancillary probate proceeding in Wisconsin, where Hanreddy owned assets exceeding $50,000.
- In Wisconsin, both resident and nonresident creditors filed claims in the ancillary proceeding, and the total of those claims exceeded the value of the Wisconsin assets.
- Some creditors filed claims in both Illinois and Wisconsin.
- The executrix asked the Wisconsin probate court to (1) delay distribution of the Wisconsin assets to the Wisconsin claimants until the Illinois administration was finally resolved and (2) require the Wisconsin assets to be distributed on a pro rata basis among all estate creditors, not only those presenting claims in Wisconsin.
- The Wisconsin probate court denied both requests, and the executrix appealed.

## Issues

1. In an ancillary Wisconsin administration for a nonresident decedent, must the Wisconsin court delay distribution of Wisconsin assets until completion of the domiciliary probate in Illinois?
2. Must the Wisconsin court distribute Wisconsin assets pro rata among all estate creditors (including those proceeding in Illinois), rather than distributing to creditors who file and prove claims in the Wisconsin ancillary proceeding?

## Decision

- The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed.
- The Wisconsin court was not required to postpone distribution of Wisconsin assets pending final adjudication of the Illinois proceeding.
- The Wisconsin court was not required to combine all creditors across both states into a single pro rata distribution that would control the Wisconsin ancillary assets.
- Wisconsin could administer and distribute Wisconsin-situated assets under Wisconsin law in the ancillary proceeding to creditors who properly filed and proved claims there.

## Legal Principles

- A state administering property within its borders in an ancillary probate proceeding applies its own probate statutes and procedures to that local administration and distribution.
- Comity toward the domiciliary administration does not compel a Wisconsin court to suspend its administration of Wisconsin assets or to treat the domiciliary proceeding as controlling the distribution of those assets.
- Even where the estate is insolvent when considering claims and assets across jurisdictions, Wisconsin is not required—absent statutory direction—to pool assets and claims across states to create one mandatory, interstate pro rata distribution.
- Creditors seeking payment from Wisconsin ancillary assets generally must present and prove their claims in the Wisconsin ancillary proceeding to share in that distribution.

## Conclusion

Estate of Hanreddy holds that Wisconsin, in an ancillary administration of a nonresident decedent’s Wisconsin property, may proceed to allow claims and distribute local assets under Wisconsin law to creditors who file there, without waiting for the domiciliary Illinois probate to end and without ordering a single pro rata distribution among all creditors in both states.


Estate of Hanreddy, 176 Wis. 570, 186 N.W. 744 (1922)