Stacia questioned whether her father had signed the will freely and knowingly. (AI image)
Following Larry’s death in 2022, the court accepted the will and appointed Tressler to manage his estate. Stacia questioned whether her father had made that decision freely and with a clear understanding of what he was signing. Her challenge began a lengthy court dispute.
Stacia Davis was ordered to pay $22,208.18 in attorney fees after failing to prove that her father’s will was invalid, according to the court document. The case eventually reached a hearing in February 2025, when the court heard from Stacia, Tressler and two women whose signatures appeared on the will. An Indiana woman who challenged her father’s decision to leave his entire estate to his fiancee has lost her case and now faces a growing legal bill.
However, the woman told the court that the signature on the affidavit was not hers. Stacia said the document had arrived unexpectedly by post and that she did not know who had sent it. The final amount of those extra charges has yet to be determined. The decision meant his three adult children, Sherry, Scott and Stacia, would receive nothing unless Tressler died before him. She was still alive when Larry died, leaving her entitled to inherit his estate under the will. Another document presented during the hearing created problems for Stacia’s case. It was an affidavit that appeared to come from one of the witnesses and questioned whether she had witnessed the signing. The lower court nevertheless found the affidavit fraudulent and criticised her decision to continue pursuing the case.
On Wednesday, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld that decision and ordered her to pay additional fees for the appeal.