Matter of Estate of Leier

MESCHKE, Justice.

Karen Leier, Lee Leier’s widow, appealed from a probate court judgment awarding the balance of the decedent’s individual retirement account (IRA) to Eldore Leier, Lee’s former wife. Because Lee’s daughters were designated contingent beneficiaries of the IRA, and their interests in the IRA were represented by Eldore, we affirm.

When Lee opened an IRA at the First National Bank of Minot in 1976, he designated his wife, Eldore, as primary beneficiary and their adult daughters, Kathy Crawford and Paula Luxem, as contingent beneficiaries. Lee and Eldore were divorced in 1979, and…