Iowa Code » Chapter 633 — PROBATE CODE
Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 633.81 (2026)

Suit by and against fiduciary

✓ current as of July 2026
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Any fiduciary may sue, be sued and defend in such capacity. [R60, §1452; C73, §2275; C97, §3224; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §12582; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, §668.10; C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §633.81] Referred to in §633.642

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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1980–2026 · leading case: Matter of Est. of Wulf, 526 N.W.2d 154 (Iowa 1994).
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Matter of Est. of Wulf, 526 N.W.2d 154 (Iowa 1994). · cites it 4× “Secondly, in considering the propriety of litigation expenses, we should recognize that a personal representative is empowered to engage in litigation under Iowa Code section 633.81. This empowerment necessarily carries with it the right to hire counsel.”
Swartzendruber v. Lamb, 582 N.W.2d 171 (Iowa 1998). · cites it 2× “A personal representative is empowered to engage in litigation under Iowa Code section 633.81. This empowerment necessarily carries with it the right to retain counsel Relevant to this issue are the provisions of Iowa Code section 633.”
Matter of Est. of Franzkowiak, 290 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa 1980). “2d 67, 70 (1947); § 633.81, The Code; 31 Am.Jur.2d Executors & Administrators § 725 (1967); 34 C.”
Est. of Kara B. Tornell & Preston H. Tornell, both individually & in his Adm'r capacity v. Trinity Health Corp., Catholic Health Initiatives-Iowa Corp., d/b/a MercyOne West Des Moines Med. Ctr., MercyOne West Des Moines, William E. Nowysz, William Nowysz, P.C., Des Moines River Physicians, LLC, Ryan Brimeyer & The Iowa Clinic, P.C. (Iowa Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 4× “Two, for the claims brought as administrator of the estate, the court cited Iowa Code section 633.81 (2023), which provides the fiduciary “may sue, be sued and defend in such capacity.”
Est. of Kara B. Tornell & Preston H. Tornell, both individually & in his Adm'r capacity v. Trinity Health Corp., Catholic Health Initiatives-Iowa Corp., d/b/a MercyOne West Des Moines Med. Ctr.; MercyOne West Des Moines; William E. Nowysz, William Nowysz, P.C.; Des Moines River Physicians, LLC; Ryan Brimeyer & The Iowa Clinic, P.C. (Iowa 2026). · cites it 2× “As the court of appeals correctly concluded, “Preston’s authority to represent the estate as a fiduciary in a lawsuit—under Iowa Code section 633.81—does not allow him to prosecute [this] action pro se.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.