Baker, J.
Warren Stibbins had seven children and a complicated estate plan. In the years before his death, Warren became frustrated with the inability of his daughter, Carol, to manage her finances. He purchased an annuity for her that would have provided a steady source of income for the rest of her life, and then removed her as a beneficiary from his estate plan and from her deceased mother’s trust. After Warren’s death, Carol and her children filed an action contesting the probate of Warren’s will. They were unsuccessful after years of litigation and a five-day jury trial. After they lost the will contest, they sought to be reimbursed for their attorney fees pursuant to Indiana Code section 29-1- 10-14. Although the trial court found that two of their three claims were litigated without good faith and just cause, it found that their third claim met that test. As a result, the trial court ordered that the estate pay all of Carol’s attorney fees and costs in an amount exceeding $170,000.
The estate now appeals, arguing, among other things, that Carol and her children do not have standing to seek attorney fees because they are not devisees under the relevant statute. We agree, and reverse the judgment of the trial court awarding attorney fees to Carol and her children.
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The Estate argues that the trial court erroneously determined that Carol and her children were “devisees” pursuant to Indiana Code section 29-1-10-14. According to the Estate, because Carol and her children were not beneficiaries to either the 2005 or 2008 Wills, they were not devisees and did not have standing to seek attorney fees following the will contest action.
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Indiana Code section 29-1-10-14 provides that when a will is challenged, “any devisee therein” may be entitled to attorney fees under certain circumstances. While, as noted above, this Court has held that “devisee” includes a person who stands to benefit directly if the challenged will is set aside, we simply cannot conclude that our General Assembly by Carol and her children, there would be no end to the slippery slope. If a ninety-year-old decedent had enacted a new will in every decade of his life, his college sweetheart who had been a devisee in his first will at the age of twenty would be entitled to attorney fees if she challenged the will in place at his death, notwithstanding the reality that she would have to successfully challenge six other wills to receive a direct benefit. We do not believe that our legislature intended such a result when it enacted this statute.
Consequently, we find that a “devisee” pursuant to Indiana Code section 29-1-10-14 includes only devisees of the will being challenged and devisees of the next will in line who would directly benefit if the challenged will were set aside. Carol and her children do not qualify as devisees under this definition; consequently, they are not entitled to attorney fees pursuant to Indiana Code section 29-1-10-14. Therefore, we reverse the judgment of the trial court.
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Assuming that the party seeking attorney fees is able to make the requisite showing of good faith and just cause, that party still bears the burden of proof with respect to calculation of attorney fees. In this case, Carol and her children raised three claims. Two of those three claims were wholly without just cause or good faith. But Carol argues that because the Estate failed to separate Carol’s attorney fees by claim, she is entitled to all of her fees. This argument leads to an impermissible shifting of the burden of proof to the Estate to disprove Carol’s fees. We cannot countenance this approach.
We acknowledge that the trial court was unable to separate the fees for the three claims, which is understandable given the process that was followed in this case. To avoid precisely this issue, we hold that a different process should be followed. First, the claimant seeking fees must prove that some or all of her claims were made in good faith and with just cause. The trial court must then make a preliminary determination as to which of the claims meet this standard. Then, the claimant is required to come forward with evidence showing the amount of attorney fees expended only for the claims that meet the statutory standard. In this way, the trial court and all parties can be assured that the claimant receives attorney fees only for those claims that were brought in good faith and with just cause, and the burden of proof remains on the claimant.
The judgment of the trial court is reversed.
Mathias, J., concurs, and Bailey, J., concurs in result.