Leach v. Yates


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Docket Number: 2009-CA-00149-SCT
Linked Case(s): 2009-CA-00149-SCT

Supreme Court: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 02-18-2010
Opinion Author: Chandler, J.
Holding: Affirmed

Additional Case Information: Topic: Wills & estates - Statute of limitations - Section 91-1-5 - Equal protection - Due process
Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Carlson and Graves, P.JJ., Randolph and Pierce, JJ.
Concurs in Result Only: Dickinson, J.with Separate Written Opinion Joined by Lamar and Kitchens, JJ.
Procedural History: Bench Trial
Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WILLS, TRUSTS, AND ESTATES

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 01-08-2008
Appealed from: Hinds County Chancery Court
Judge: Patricia D. Wise
Disposition: The chancery court determined that Leach had failed to meet her burden of proof that there was sufficient evidence to adjudicate Daniel Morant, Sr., as the putative natural father of Leach and her siblings.The chancery court also determined that Leach had failed to prove that she and her siblings were the heirs at law of McCullough. The chancery court further determined Leach had failed to prove her constitutional challenge to the validity of Mississippi Code Section 91-1- 15 beyond a reasonable doubt.
Case Number: P-2004-7-W/4

  Party Name: Attorney Name:   Brief(s) Available:
Appellant: IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF THELMA M. McCULLOUGH, DECEASED: ARLEAN MORANT LEACH, DANIEL LAWRENCE MORANT, JR., LINDA ANN MORANT, TOMMY EARL MORANT, CAROLYN ANN MORANT FAIRLEY, JOHNNY EARL MORANT, JAMES MORANT, JR., JESSICA MORANT AND KENDRIAN COLLINS




ARIN CLARK ADKINS, NATHAN LESTER CLARK, III, LESTER CLARK, JR.



 
  • Appellant #1 Brief
  • Appellant #1 Reply Brief

  • Appellee: GERALDINE YATES, ADMINISTRATRIX, JIM HOOD AND STATE OF MISSISSIPPI OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: SHAWN STEPHEN SHURDEN, WILSON DOUGLAS MINOR, PATRICIA ANN CATCHINGS  

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    Topic: Wills & estates - Statute of limitations - Section 91-1-5 - Equal protection - Due process

    Summary of the Facts: At the time of the death of Thelma McCullough, she left no surviving spouse, children, or parent. While she was an only child born to James Morant and Alice Bush, McCullough had five half-siblings through the marriage of her father to Rosetta Johnson. Daniel Morant was McCullough’s half-brother and the alleged father of Arlean Morant Leach, Daniel Lawrence Morant, Jr., Linda Ann Morant, Tommy Earl Morant, Carolyn Ann Morant Fairley, and Johnny Earl Morant; and alleged grandfather of James Morant, Jr., Jessica Morant, and Kendrian Collins. Leach, her siblings, and her nieces and nephew are the alleged children and grandchildren of Daniel Lawrence Morant, the half-sibling of McCullough. After McCullough died intestate, Geraldine Yates filed a petition to open an estate and a petition for letters of administration. The chancery court issued a decree for letters of administration appointing Yates as the administratrix of the estate. Yates filed a petition for determination of heirs, and the chancery court filed a judgment determining heirs in estate in 2005. The chancellor determined a number of legal heirs and awarded them their respective shares of the Estate. In 2006, pursuant to a petition to close the Estate, the chancery court, on its own motion, reconsidered its 2005 judgment. The chancery court reset a hearing to determine heirs for the Estate and requested that all parties be noticed of the proceeding. By order, the chancery court, on its own motion, reopened the case. The chancery court also set aside the judgment determining heirs and set a date to conduct a hearing to determine heirs of the Estate. The chancellor later issued an order denying the petition for determination of heirs at law and determining that Leach was time-barred from inheriting through Daniel Lawrence Morant pursuant to section 91-1-15 and, therefore, she could not inherit from the Estate. Leach filed a petition requesting reconsideration of the prior order and, alternatively, contested the constitutionality of section 91-1-15. Because Leach challenged the constitutionality of section 91-1-15, the Attorney General filed a response to Leach’s amended petition. In its final judgment, the chancery court determined that Leach had failed to meet her burden of proof that there was sufficient evidence to adjudicate Daniel Morant, Sr., as the putative natural father of Leach and her siblings. The chancery court determined that Leach had failed to prove by any genetic or scientific evidence that Daniel Morant, Sr., was the natural father and that she was time-barred for failure to establish paternity within the time requirements prescribed by section 91-1-15. The chancery court also determined Leach had failed to prove her constitutional challenge to the validity of section 91-1-15 beyond a reasonable doubt. Leach appeals.

    Summary of Opinion Analysis: Issue 1: Statute of limitations Leach argues that the chancery court erred by finding that her claim to be adjudicated an heir was time-barred pursuant to section 91-1-15. Section 91-1-5 states that there shall not be, in any case, a distinction between the kindred of the whole and half-blood, except that the kindred of the whole-blood, in equal degree, shall be preferred to the kindred of the half-blood in the same degree. Section 91-1-3 provides for inheritance by collaterals, such as children of half-blood siblings, by representation through the blood relationship of a parent. In order for Leach and her siblings to inherit from McCullough, their putative aunt, through representation, they first had to establish paternity through their putative father, Daniel Lawrence Morant. Daniel Lawrence Morant died in 1978, and Leach did not try to establish paternity until 2003, after the death of McCullough. Leach argues that she had no claim until the death of McCullough, as no one can be an heir while that person is still living. However, Leach and her siblings had a claim in the estate of their putative father, who died in 1978. Leach and her siblings did not establish paternity after their putative father’s death, instead waiting until after McCullough’s death in 2003 to establish paternity. Leach and her siblings had three years from July 1, 1981, or until July 1, 1984, to seek the adjudication of paternity as the natural children of Daniel Lawrence Morant. Any claims to Daniel Lawrence Morant’s estate should have been made prior to that date. An estate was not opened after Daniel Lawrence Morant’s death. It is through their putative father that Leach and her siblings are seeking to assert a claim, through his estate, which they failed to do during the properly allotted time. Issue 2: Constitutionality of section 91-1-15 Leach argues that section 91-1-15 is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and she is deprived of a property interest. Section 91-1-15 does require certain criteria, including an option to prove paternity of any illegitimate children within a restricted period after the putative father’s death. These requirements place a higher burden on illegitimate children to inherit from their fathers than legitimate children. However, as the Supreme Court of the United States and the Mississippi Supreme Court both previously have held, the State has a legitimate interest in protecting the family and the estates of the deceased by requiring adjudication of paternity within a reasonable timeframe. Accordingly, Leach cannot prove that section 91-1-15 is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause. As a legitimate state interest exists in the adjudication of paternity, section 91-1-15 cannot be said to violate substantive due process. Leach can point to no procedural due process violations. She had notice and an opportunity to be heard on her heirship claim.


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