It's got something to do with the formalities of the court. Everything has to be filed as "somebody vs. somebody", even if everybody agrees on how the case should be settled. You typically see divisions like "heirs who live in state" vs. "heirs who live out of state" or "adult heirs" vs. "minor heirs". Sometimes the bill of complaint and the reply are even written on the same piece of paper by the same lawyer.
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