Anniskett v. Tracey

Three sisters disputed various aspects of their parents’ probate proceedings, including the disposition of their parents’ stock in regional and village corporations.[1] The sisters entered into a settlement agreement in the probate proceedings resolving all pending disputes, including the dispute about their parents’ stock, but one sister — appointed personal representative of the probate estates under the settlement agreement — later unsuccessfully attempted to set aside the settlement agreement and filed a separate lawsuit alleging conversion of the parents’ stock. The superior court concluded that the probate settlement agreement should not be set aside and separately concluded that the lawsuit should be dismissed for failure to state a claim for relief. The dissident sister appeals, but we affirm the superior court’s rulings.Warren and Dorcas Neakok were Iñupiaq residents of Alaska’s North Slope and shareholders in their village and regional corporations. They had three daughters, Nancy Leavitt, Lily Anniskett, and Marie Tracey.In 1996 Warren and Dorcas both made wills disposing of their ANCSA corporation stock in the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) and in Cully Corporation. In 2004 they completed testamentary disposition forms changing the distribution of their stock. Dorcas died in 2006 and Warren died in 2010.

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Adds precedent that influences how ANCSA corporations, regulators, and shareholders interpret governance rights and remedies.