Estate of Wallace v. Mohamed


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Docket Number: 2008-CT-01334-SCT
Linked Case(s): 2008-CA-01334-COA ; 2008-CA-01334-COA ; 2008-CT-01334-SCT

Supreme Court: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 02-17-2011
Opinion Author: Dickinson, J.
Holding: Court of Appeals reversed; Chancery court reinstated and affirmed.

Additional Case Information: Topic: Wills & estates - Appointment of administrator of estate
Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Carlson, P.J., Randolph, Lamar, Kitchens, Chandler and Pierce, JJ.
Dissenting Author : Graves, P.J.
Procedural History: Bench Trial
Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WILLS, TRUSTS AND ESTATES
Writ of Certiorari: yes
Appealed from Court of Appeals

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 06-23-2008
Appealed from: LOWNDES COUNTY CHANCERY COURT
Judge: KENNETH M. BURNS
Disposition: After he was sued by a deceased woman’s estate, Dr. Emad Mohamed moved to intervene in the estate proceedings, claiming that the estate administrator, Louis Wallace, may not have been legally married to the deceased. The chancellor allowed the intervention, considered the evidence, and removed Wallace as the administrator, replacing him with the chancery court clerk.
Case Number: 2005-0178

Note: The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed. See the orginial COA opinion at http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/Opinions/CO61112.pdf

  Party Name: Attorney Name:   Brief(s) Available:
Appellant: Estate of Cynthia Gilkey Wallace, Deceased, by Louis M. Wallace




SHIRLEY C. BYERS



 

Appellee: Emad H. Mohamed, M.D., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Sanofi-Synthelabo, Inc. DIANE V. PRADAT, L. CARL HAGWOOD, WALTER T. JOHNSON  

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Topic: Wills & estates - Appointment of administrator of estate

Summary of the Facts: After he was sued by a deceased woman’s estate, Dr. Emad Mohamed moved to intervene in the estate proceedings, claiming that the estate administrator, Louis Wallace, may not have been legally married to the deceased. The chancellor allowed the intervention, considered the evidence, and removed Wallace as the administrator, replacing him with the chancery court clerk. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that Dr. Mohamed did not have standing to intervene, and that, even if he did, the chancellor had erred in removing Wallace as administrator. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Summary of Opinion Analysis: A chancellor has a large discretion in the selection of the person to be appointed administrator of an estate except in cases made mandatory by statute. Appointments made mandatory by statute are those involving the husband, wife, or distributees because only those persons have a legal right to be appointed; as regards all others, the appointments lie within the discretion of the chancery court. Because the chancery court is given wide discretion in the appointment and revocation of administrators, within the limits of the law, if Wallace and Gilkey were not legally married, Wallace has no statutory right to administer Gilkey’s estate. With regard to Wallace’s suitability to serve as administrator, the Court of Appeals impermissibly reweighed the evidence to arrive at an alternative conclusion, directly contradicting the deferential standard of review governing the issue. In essence, Dr. Mohamed argues that Wallace falsely represented to the court that he was Gilkey’s husband. The Court of Appeals, looking at the same evidence reviewed by the chancellor, concluded that there was “insufficient evidence to support the chancery court’s implicit finding that Wallace was not Gilkey’s legitimate spouse.” However, the chancellor was well within his discretion to conclude that Wallace was not Gilkey’s husband at the time of her death, and therefore not statutorily entitled to appointment. The weight of the evidence in the record indicates that Cynthia Wallace had not divorced her husband when she purportedly married Louis Wallace. Thus, the ruling of the chancery court is reinstated.


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