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Property Keyed to Sprankling
In re Estate of Oaks
Citation:
944 N.W.2d 611 (2020)Facts
David Oaks and Lynne Stouff were in a romantic relationship for over twenty-three years and lived together for approximately ten years until Oaks’ death on March 8, 2018. Oaks had been divorced twice and had an adult daughter, Cheri Wardell, with whom he was estranged for many years. In the early morning hours of March 8, 2018, Oaks fatally shot himself in the head in the home he shared with Stouff while she was asleep upstairs. Before his death, Oaks left two handwritten notes on a table. The first note, dated March 7, 2018, stated that Stouff had been his companion and crutch for a long while, and that as he left “this existence” he wanted all his “worldly belongings” to be assigned to Stouff. The second note thanked Stouff for being there for him over the years and expressed his love for her. Evidence showed that Oaks was a Vietnam War veteran who had been diagnosed with PTSD, was prescribed anti-depressant medication, and had complained of pressure and pain in his head in the months before his death. His death certificate listed his cause of death as “self-inflicted gunshot wound to head due to or as a consequence of depression.”
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