The estranged son of a Casper man lost out on his inheritance because he sued other beneficiaries of his father’s will, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
Chadwick R. Traylor is the son of Casper millionaire Donald “Doc” Traylor, who died in August of 2021 and left behind an estate worth about $4 million to multiple beneficiaries, many of whom were friends with whom he bonded with late in his life.
Two years ago, Doc’s son Chadwick sued Kevin Kraft, who manages Doc’s trust; Doc’s neighbors Davina and David Green; and Doc’s handyman Brian Dandurand. Chadwick alleged that these friends of Doc’s exerted undue influence on him so they’d be included in his will.
Natrona County District Court Judge Kerri Johnson rejected that claim, ruling after bench trial that Chadwick failed to prove that any of the parties exercised undue influence over Doc.
Chadwick appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court, saying Johnson was wrong to hold a bench trial instead of a jury trial. He also argued that a “no-contest” clause in his father’s will, designed to strip away the inheritance of any beneficiary who sues the others, didn’t apply to him.
The Wyoming Supreme Court disagreed with those claims in its ruling.
Chadwick has now lost out on his inheritance altogether under the no-contest clause.
“We’re just glad it’s over,” Mel Kraft, Kevin Kraft’s wife, told Cowboy State Daily in a Wednesday phone interview. She said her husband became emotional when they received the news.
Kevin Kraft told Cowboy State Daily that he made a promise to Doc that he’d see his will executed according to his wishes, and he’s glad he could keep that promise.
When Cowboy State Daily called David and Davina Green’s attorney Richard Wilking, the Greens happened to be sitting next to him.
“We’re just happy with the result, and we think the right thing was done,” said Wilking. “It’s too bad we had to go to all this trouble to prove that, but that’s our system, so you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Davina Green said that along with a portion of Doc’s inheritance, she inherited Doc’s dog Sophie. To her, the dog was the most important bequest, she said.
Davina had walked the dog for Doc daily for several months before his death, the high court’s ruling says.
Brian Dandurand and Chadwick Traylor could not be reached and their respective attorneys did not return phone messages by publication time.
The Background
Doc was a chiropractor in Casper until he retired in 2006. He bought a home in Florida where he wintered, then lived in Casper in spring and summer, says the court order.
Doc and his son were estranged. Chadwick Traylor hadn't been in Doc’s physical presence since seven years before the man's death, and Doc hadn't seen his grandkids since 2007, says the high court's ruling.
In Florida, Doc became friends with his neighbors, and in early 2019, he asked them for help with his estate plan. They connected him with their attorney and Doc made a revocable trust naming those neighbors as successor co-trustees.
Chadwick Traylor was also a successor trustee under the trust, and he and his children were set to inherit a lump sum of $200,000 each and a one-third residual interest in the trust, the ruling says.
The Florida neighbors drove Doc back to Casper in June of 2019, and arranged for Doc’s Casper neighbor, Davina Green, to walk Doc’s dog and keep an eye on Doc.
Davina Green agreed, and she, her husband David, and Doc grew close, says the ruling.
Enter Handyman
That was also when Doc met Brian Dandurand, a handyman who came to help unload Doc’s furniture from Florida, and ended up bonding with Doc while they waited between eight and nine hours for the moving truck to arrive.
Doc came to rely on Dandurand as his handyman over the years.
Dandurand drove Doc to Florida for the winter that October, then picked Doc up for the return trip in June of 2020.
The Greens kept taking care of the dog, Sophie, and checking in on Doc. Dandurand continued to be his handyman.
Davina checked on Doc in August of 2020 and found he’d fallen and wasn’t able to get up. He was hospitalized for five days and diagnosed with stage IV cancer. It was treatable, but he declined treatment.
He required round-the-clock care after he was discharged from the hospital, and Davina recommended Mel’s Helping Hands, which Melody and Kevin Kraft own.
Doc did so, and he soon told Melody Kraft that he’d like to discuss his finances and make changes to the estate plan his neighbors had helped him with in Florida.
Melody asked her husband Kevin to meet with Doc because Kevin had been a financial planner.
Kevin Kraft told one of Doc’s favorite caregivers to go through the new plan with Doc, and she did. Later, Doc had an attorney help him with the revisions.
Kevin Kraft accompanied Doc to at least one of the meetings with Doc’s attorney. Doc asked Kevin if he’d act as his successor trustee, and if a fee of $150,000 would be adequate for the task.
Kevin agreed to serve as Doc’s successor trustee.
Doc’s lawyer “had no concerns with Doc’s ability to understand” his new will, the ruling relates from the court record.
The new version essentially cut Chadwick Traylor’s inheritance in half, cutting his monetary bequest from $200,000 to $100,000 and his one-third residual interest in the trust down to 10.58%.
It left “various amounts to several of Doc’s friends,” including larger portions to Dandurand and to the Greens.
Kevin Kraft was not to receive an inheritance under this will – just his trust successor’s fee.
An Elder Abuse Report
Doc’s favorite nurse became concerned that the Krafts were after Doc’s money and left her position. In February of 2021, her husband reported the Krafts for suspected exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
Casper Police Department Det. Shannon Daley investigated the case and spoke with Doc, and she concluded no evidence supported that suspicion. Doc was “very well taken care of, articulate, and aware of what he was doing and how his funds were being used.”
In their interview with Cowboy State Daily, Melody and Kevin Kraft characterized the report as the doing of a “disgruntled ex-employee.”
In This Trust
Doc died Aug. 13, 2021. His trust held his Florida and Casper homes, plus a mountain home in rural Natrona County, vehicles and financial accounts, all totaling about $4 million.
Chadwick Traylor sued Kevin Kraft, the Greens and Dandurand on Jan. 3, 2022, alleging they exerted undue influence over his father to make him change his will and give them money.
Kraft, Dandurand and the Greens countersued, saying that because Chadwick Traylor had sued his co-beneficiaries, then he should lose his inheritance under a “no-contest clause” of the will.
The clause says that if a beneficiary tries to impair or invalidate Doc’s trust agreement or will, that beneficiary “shall not be entitled to any benefits under any Trust created hereby.”
Court Schedules
The district court judge set a jury trial, but Chadwick did not serve the defendants with his demand for a jury trial before the deadline, so the court held a bench trial instead.
A bench trial is a proceeding after which a judge, not a jury, renders a verdict.
Traylor argued to the Wyoming Supreme Court on appeal that he should have had a jury trial and didn’t technically miss his deadline because not all the parties who had an interest in the case had responded to a filing in it by their own deadlines.
Both the district court and the Wyoming Supreme Court rejected this argument, by saying those additional, interested parties weren’t the ones whose responses would start the deadline clock for the jury trial request: the main defendants were.
Not A Penny
Traylor also argued that he didn’t violate the “no-contest” clause, because he was a residuary beneficiary under the trust, not just a beneficiary.
The high court countered, saying he’s technically both, so the clause applies to him.
Melody Kraft told Cowboy State Daily Traylor’s portion of the inheritance will now be split among the others. Wilking did not immediately respond to a follow-up call requesting confirmation.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
