Prickett v. Hot Spring County Medical Center
Prickett v. Hot Spring County Medical Center
Opinion of the Court
_jjln this wrongful-death/medical-malpractice case, the Hot Spring County Circuit Court granted summary judgment in favor of appellees Hot Spring County-Medical Center; Altimus Ray Bollen, M.D.; Larry B. Brashears, M.D.; L.B. Brashears, M.D., Ltd.; and Hudson Spe-ciality Insurance, based on its conclusion that appellant Cheryl Prickett, the executrix of her mother’s estate, lacked standing to bring suit. We agree with this conclusion, |2as the record reflects (1) that the probate court lacked the authority to reopen the estate almost two years after it was closed and (2) that the circuit court had the authority to set aside the order reopening the estate. Thus, Prickett lacked standing to bring the suit, and the complaint she filed was a nullity. We affirm.
The relevant facts are undisputed. Shirley Harmor passed away on August 14, 2005. Her will was soon admitted to probate, and Prickett was appointed executrix of the estate. By order entered June 6, 2006, the probate court noted that the estate was ready to close, but that the estate wanted more time to evaluate a potential wrongful-death action. The court gave Prickett until December 1, 2006, to file a wrongful-death complaint. The estate was to remain open if she filed a complaint, but to close automatically if she did not. Nothing was filed by that date.
After originally filing her action in federal court in June 2007 and having it dismissed, Prickett filed this wrongful-death/medical-malpractice action in state court in November 2007. In September 2008, the Brashears appellees filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that the decedent’s estate closed on December 1, 2006, without a wrongful-death action being filed; that Prickett’s filing in federal court and the present case were nullities because she did not have authority to act on behalf of the estate once the estate was closed; and that the statute of limitations had expired prior to the filing of a proper complaint. The other appellees adopted the Brashears’ motion as their own.
In her response to the motion for summary judgment, Prickett relied upon an October 13, 2008 probate court order that held the June 2006 order void ab initio. The probate court |3had concluded that its original order did not meet the statutory requirements for an order closing an estate and, therefore, the estate was still open when Prickett filed the wrongful-death action. In reply to Prickett’s response, appellees asserted that the probate court was without authority and could not set aside the June 2006 order closing the decedent’s estate.
A hearing on the motion for summary judgment was held on March 10, 2009. The circuit judge presiding over the tort case, Judge Phillip Shirron, transferred the issue of the summary-judgment motion to Judge Chris Williams, the judge who presided over the probate case. One week later, the circuit court (by Judge Williams) ruled that the appellees were entitled to summary judgment. The court found that the June 2006 probate order was a final order closing the estate and that the probate court was without authority to set aside that order in October 2008. Though the appellees were not interested parties within the meaning of the probate code,
Prickett raises four points on appeal: (1) that the circuit court in the tort case had no authority to rule on the validity of the probate court’s order setting aside the June 2006 order closing the estate; (2) that appellees did not have standing to challenge the validity of the |4probate court’s order setting aside the June 2006 order; (3) alternatively, that the June 2006 order was deficient and ineffective to close the estate and, therefore, the estate was open at the time that Prickett filed the present action; and (4) alternatively, that the probate court’s action in setting aside the June 2006 order was proper on the merits. We discuss these arguments in a different order than presented by the parties.
The standard of review regarding summary judgment is whether the evidentiary items presented by the moving party in support of the motion left a question of material fact unanswered and, if not, whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
Prickett first argues that the circuit court hearing the tort suit did not have the authority to determine the validity of the probate court’s October 2008 order and relies on our supreme court’s decision in Edwards v. Nelson
This case is more akin to our decision in Mayberry v. Flowers,
Like the probate court in May-berry, the probate court here lacked jurisdiction to set aside its previous order. This loss of jurisdiction meant that the probate court had no jurisdiction to enter the October 2008 order setting aside the June 2006 order closing the estate. Where a probate court has subject-matter jurisdiction, its judgment, although erroneous, is conclusive, unless reversed, and cannot be attacked collaterally.
Finally, Prickett argues that the June 2006 order was not effective to close the estate because it did not meet certain statutory requirements. We disagree. Arkansas Code Annotated section 28-53-104(a) (Repl. 2004) requires a court to make certain statements regarding claims, notices, and other matters in a final order of distribution. The probate court did so in this case. Section 28-53-104(b) states that the order shall discharge the personal representative and the surety on his or her bond “[i]f there has been a determination that there is no liability to the estate by the personal representative or his or her surety and if the order approves a final distribution previously made.” Although the order does not expressly discharge-Prickett or approve a final distribution, it does authorize Prickett to execute an Executrix’s Deed to convey the decedent’s property in accordance with her wishes. | ^Moreover, because the heirs had waived the final accounting, there was nothing more for Prickett to do as the personal representative of the estate unless a wrongful-death action was filed within the period limited by the circuit court. We therefore hold that there was substantial compliance with section 28-53-104 and that the June 2006 order was effective to close the decedent’s estate.
We hold that the probate court’s June 2006 order closed the estate and discharged Prickett as the executrix of the estate. She had no standing to file a lawsuit on behalf of the estate, and the complaint she filed against appellees was a nullity.
Affirmed.
. See Ark.Code Ann. § 28 — 1—102(a)(l 1) (Repl. 2004) (defining "interested persons” as "any heir, devisee, spouse, creditor, or any other having a property right, interest in, or claim against the estate being administered, and a fiduciary”).
. Estate of Banks v. Wilkin, 101 Ark. App. 156, 272 S.W.3d 137 (2008).
. See Luu v. Still, 102 Ark. App. 11, 279 S.W.3d 481 (2008).
. Id.
. 372 Ark. 300, 275 S.W.3d 158 (2008).
. See Ark. R. Civ. P. 60(a); Bullock v. Barnes, 366 Ark. 444, 236 S.W.3d 498 (2006) (holding that the ninety-day limitations period for setting aside orders, decrees, and judgments applies to orders issued by probate court).
. 69 Ark. App. 307, 12 S.W.3d 652 (2000).
. Wilson v. Wilson, 327 Ark. 386, 939 S.W.2d 287 (1997); see also Jackson v. Kelly, 345 Ark. 151, 44 S.W.3d 328 (2001).
. See Filk v. Beatty, 298 Ark. 40, 764 S.W.2d 454 (1989); Mayberry, supra; cf. Wilson, supra.
. See Powers v. Bryant, 309 Ark. 568, 832 S.W.2d 232 (1992); Mayberry, supra.
. See St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. Circuit Court of Craighead County, 348 Ark. 197, 73 S.W.3d 584 (2002).
. See Johnson v. Greene Acres Nursing Home Ass’n, 364 Ark. 306, 219 S.W.3d 138 (2005); Brown v. National Health Care of Pocahontas, Inc., 102 Ark. App. 148, 283 S.W.3d 224 (2008).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Cheryl Lynn PRICKETT, as of the Estate of Shirley Harmor, on Behalf of the Estate and Beneficiaries of Shirley Harmor v. HOT SPRING COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER Altimus Ray Bollen, M.D., Individually Hot Spring Diagnostic Clinic, P.A., an Arkansas Corporation Larry B. Brashears, M.D., Individually, and L.B. Brashears, M.D., Ltd., an Arkansas Corporation Hudson Healthcare and Hudson Specialty Insurance a/k/a Hudson Healthcare, as Liability Insurer for Hot Spring County Medical Center
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published