National Heritage Realty, Inc., et al. v. Est. of Boles


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Docket Number: 2005-IA-00750-SCT

Supreme Court: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 09-07-2006
Opinion Author: EASLEY, J.
Holding: REVERSED AND RENDERED

Additional Case Information: Topic: Wrongful death - Creation of estate - Jurisdiction - M.R.C.P. 9 - Standing - Section 91-7-63(1)
Judge(s) Concurring: SMITH, C.J., WALLER, P.J., AND CARLSON, J.
Dissenting Author : Diaz and Graves, JJ. JJ.
Concurs in Result Only: COBB, P.J., AND DICKINSON AND RANDOLPH, JJ.
Procedural History: Summary Judgment
Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WRONGFUL DEATH

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 02-03-2005
Appealed from: Tallahatchie County Chancery Court
Judge: Jon M. Barnwell
Disposition: Denied Appellant's Motion for Summary Judgment
Case Number: 2001-39-2
  Consolidated: Consolidated with 2005-IA-00699-SCT National Heritage Realty, Inc., Mariner Health Care, Inc. f/k/a Mariner Post-Acute Network, Inc., Grancare, Inc., Evergreen Healthcare, Inc., George D. Morgan, J. D. Lee, Angela M. Whittington and Chuck (Charles) Sinclair v. Estate of Eva Boles, Deceased, Eliza Price, Administratrix; Tallahatchie Chancery Court 2nd District; LC Case #: 2001-39-2; Ruling Date: 03/14/2005; Ruling Judge: Jon Barnwell; Consolidated with 2005-IA-00909-SCT National Heritage Realty, Inc., Mariner Health Care, Inc. f/k/a Mariner Post-Acute Network, Inc., Grancare, Inc., Evergreen Healthcare, Inc., George D. Morgan, J. D. Lee, Angela M. Whittington and Chuck (Charles) Sinclair v. The Estate of Eva Boles by and through Eliza Price, Administratrix of the Estate of Eva Boles, for the use and Benefit of the Estate of Eva Boles, and for the use and Benefit of the Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Eva Boles; Leflore Circuit Court; LC Case #: 2002-0017CI; Ruling Date: 04/01/2005; Ruling Judge: Margaret Carey-McCray

  Party Name: Attorney Name:  
Appellant: National Heritage Realty, Inc., Mariner Health Care, Inc. f/k/a Mariner Post-Acute Network, Inc., Grancare, Inc., Evergreen Healthcare, Inc., George D. Morgan, J. D. Lee, Angela M. Whittington and Chuck (Charles) Sinclair




L. CARL HAGWOOD, FAYE MURPHREE JAMES



 

Appellee: Estate of Eva Boles, Deceased, Eliza Price, Administratrix SUSAN NICHOLS ESTES, DOUGLAS BRYANT CHAFFIN, KENNETH LUKE CONNOR  

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Topic: Wrongful death - Creation of estate - Jurisdiction - M.R.C.P. 9 - Standing - Section 91-7-63(1)

Summary of the Facts: Eva Boles died on January 25, 2001, in Leflore County. Boles resided at the Greenwood Health & Rehabilitation Center for more than four years prior to her death and at the time of her death. Eliza Price, Boles’ cousin, filed a petition for appointment as administratrix of the Estate of Eva Boles in the Chancery Court of Tallahatchie County. After the chancellor appointed Price as the administratrix of the Estate, Price filed a complaint against National Heritage Realty, Inc.; Mariner Health Care, Inc. f/k/a/ Mariner Post - Acute Network, Inc.; Grancare, Inc.; Evergreen Healthcare, Inc.; George D. Morgan; J. D. Lee; Angela M. Whittington; and Chuck Sinclair, in the Circuit Court of Leflore County, alleging that Boles suffered an injury as a result of inadequate care by the staff of Greenwood Health. The defendants filed a motion to render the order appointing Price as administratrix of the Estate, void ab initio in the Tallahatchie County Chancery Court, because Boles was a resident of Leflore County at the time of her death. The Estate filed a petition for appointment of administratrix in the Chancery Court of Leflore County. The Tallahatchie County Chancery Court transferred administration of the Estate to Leflore County and closed the Estate in Tallahatchie County. On the same day, the Leflore County Chancery Court entered an order granting Price’s petition for appointment as administratrix of the Estate. The Tallahatchie County Chancery Court entered the order transferring the Estate to Leflore County Chancery Court and closing the Tallahatchie County case. The Chancery Court of Tallahatchie County entered an order which granted the Defendants’ motion to certify issues for interlocutory appeal and denied the Defendants’ previous motion to render the order appointing Price as administratrix of the Estate void ab initio. The Defendants pursued a notice of appeal and petition for interlocutory appeal and emergency stay with the Supreme Court, and also pursued a motion for summary judgment in the Leflore County Circuit Court lawsuit which the court denied. The Supreme Court granted an interlocutory appeal in all cases and consolidated all the appeals.

Summary of Opinion Analysis: Issue 1: Creation of estate The Estate argues that the Defendants cannot challenge the creation of the Estate. The Estate argues that the circuit court correctly denied the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment since estate matters are not within a circuit court’s jurisdiction. The Estate also argues that the Defendants lack standing to challenge the chancery court’s actions regardless of whether the Defendants choose to challenge to the chancery court actions in circuit court or chancery court, because they are potential debtors and not heirs or creditors of the Estate. The Defendants have standing in the chancery court action since they challenged the Tallahatchie County Chancery Court’s subject matter jurisdiction to open the Estate. Pursuant to M.R.C.P. 9, the Defendants also can challenge a party plaintiff in circuit court. The record reflects that the Defendants challenged Price’s authority and capacity to maintain the lawsuit in each of their answers. Therefore, the Defendants preserved their challenge to capacity in the Leflore County Circuit Court action. Thus, the Defendants also have standing to challenge the Estate as a party plaintiff in the circuit court action. The parties also dispute Boles’s place of residence. The Defendants argue that Boles failed to meet any of the jurisdictional requirements of section 91-7-63(1) to open an estate in Tallahatchie County and that Leflore County was where Boles had a fixed place of residence at Greenwood Health, died on January 25, 2001, and had a personal property by way of a potential claim against the Defendants for alleged personal injury. Boles’s place of residency is Leflore County. Boles lived and died in Leflore County for more than four years prior to her death. The Defendants argue that opening the Estate in Tallahatchie County and the appointment of Price in Tallahatchie County are void, not voidable. Section 91-7-63(1) authorizes three possible places to open an estate, the chancery court of the county where the intestate had a fixed place of residence at the time of death; if there was no fixed place of residence, then the chancery court of the county where the intestate died, or where his personal property or some part may be. Section 91-7-63(1), is an exclusive venue statute, making it jurisdictional in nature. The facts surrounding Boles’s death met none of the requirements for filing a petition in Tallahatchie County. Boles resided, died, and had her only potential asset, a lawsuit against the nursing facility, in Leflore County. Therefore, Tallahatchie County never had subject matter jurisdiction in the Estate and opening the Estate and appointing Price as administratrix was void, not voidable. Further, the transfer from Tallahatchie County to Leflore County was improper. The chancellor should have dismissed, not transferred, the Tallahatchie County Chancery Court estate case, and Price should have filed a new petition in Leflore County. Even if the appointment of Price as administratrix were declared void, the Estate argues that Price’s acts as administratrix would not be invalid. The Estate argues that the Tallahatchie County Chancery Court did not transfer a “nullity” since it closed the Estate. Price had no authority to file the lawsuit in Leflore County. The fact that the Tallahatchie County Chancery Court later transferred the case to Leflore County is of no consequence and cannot ratify the Leflore County Estate nor the filing of the circuit court action. Issue 2: Wrongful death suit The Leflore County Circuit Court denied the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment which challenged Price’s authority to maintain the wrongful death lawsuit in Leflore County. The Defendants argue that the Leflore County Circuit Court erred by denying their motion for summary judgment because as a matter of law, Price had no authority or capacity to file the wrongful death suit in Leflore County. The trial court erred by not granting the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment. The Tallahatchie County Chancery Court had no jurisdiction to open an estate and appoint Price as administratrix. As such, Price did not have the capacity or authority to bring the wrongful death suit in the Circuit Court of Leflore County as an administratrix of the void Estate.


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