Estate of Ricky E. Hull v. Showman, M. ( 2023 )

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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37
ESTATE OF RICKY E. HULL, : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
DECEASED : PENNSYLVANIA
:
Appellant :
:
:
v. :
:
: No. 1277 WDA 2022
MELISSA S. SHOWMAN :
Appeal from the Order Entered September 28, 2022
In the Court of Common Pleas of Fayette County Civil Division at No(s):
702 of 2022 GD
BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., BOWES, J., and SULLIVAN, J.
MEMORANDUM BY BOWES, J.: FILED: JULY 6, 2023
The Estate of Ricky E. Hull, deceased (the “Estate”), appeals from the
order entered in the civil division of the Fayette County Court of Common
Pleas dismissing all claims in this ejectment action, without prejudice, so that
the claims could instead be raised in the orphans’ court division. The Estate
contends that the orphans’ court division lacks subject matter jurisdiction over
its complaint in ejectment and that the trial court erred in dismissing this claim
instead of transferring the counterclaims raised by Melissa S. Showman
(“Appellee”), one of the decedent’s three daughters, to the orphans’ court
division. We affirm the trial court’s finding that the orphans’ court division
may exercise nonmandatory subject matter jurisdiction over the claims, but
we reverse the dismissal of this action and remand with instructions to transfer
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the proceeding to the orphans’ court division pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.
§ 5103(c).
By way of background, Mr. Hull died testate on April 7, 2021. The
Register of Wills in Fayette County subsequently issued letters testamentary
to the executrix at docket number 2621-0471 of the orphans’ court division.
The decedent’s assets included, inter alia, over sixteen acres of real estate in
Springfield Township, Fayette County (the “Property”). While the orphans’
court docket remained open, the Estate filed a complaint against Appellee in
the civil division, raising a single count of ejectment asserting that she was
occupying the Property without any right to do so.1
Appellee filed a response containing new matter, affirmative defenses,
and three counterclaims against the Estate. Therein, she asserted that the
decedent executed a deed transferring a one-third interest in the Property to
her several weeks prior to the decedent’s death, and that the Estate agreed
to allow her to remain on the Property if she installed a septic system.
Appellee also raised the defense that the decedent’s last will and testament
did not fully dispose of the residue of his assets, creating a partial intestacy
that entitled her to an interest in the Property. Finally, Appellee averred that
the executrix of the Estate violated her fiduciary obligations by entering into
an agreement of sale for the Property with a third-party for below its appraised
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1 Notably, the Honorable Judge Joseph M. George, Jr., presided over both the
orphans’ court docket and the complaint filed by the Estate in the civil division.
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value. As such, Appellee requested relief from the trial court in the form of
attorney’s fees arising from defending the ejectment action, and seeking
specific performance of a contract, an accounting, a freeze of the Estate’s
assets, and/or a hearing to determine whether the executrix should be
removed.
The Estate filed preliminary objections to Appellee’s response seeking,
inter alia, to dismiss her counterclaims due to lack of subject matter
jurisdiction. The Estate argued that the civil division had exclusive jurisdiction
over the ejectment action and that Appellee’s counterclaims should be brought
in a separate action within the orphans’ court division. Both parties filed briefs
addressing the Estate’s preliminary objections.
On September 28, 2022, the trial court sustained the Estate’s
preliminary objection to the lack of subject matter jurisdiction over Appellee’s
counterclaims.2 Critically, the order dismissed all claims of both parties,
without prejudice, so that they could be raised in the docket of the orphans’
court division relating to the Estate. The trial court also directed that, once
the claims were filed with the orphans’ court division, it would appoint a
master pursuant to 20 Pa.C.S. § 751, with the master’s costs to be borne by
the Estate. The Estate filed a motion to reconsider, and thereafter timely
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2 The order did not address the remaining preliminary objections raised by
the Estate.
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appealed from the order sustaining the preliminary objection while the motion
to reconsider was still pending.
The Estate and the trial court thereafter complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.3
The Estate raises the following inter-related issues on appeal:
I. Where the trial court had exclusive jurisdiction of [the Estate’s]
ejectment action, whether the trial court abused its discretion
or committed an error of law by sua sponte dismissing that
action and transferring it to the trial court’s orphans’ court
division?
II. Whether the trial court abused its discretion or committed an
error of law by sua sponte dismissing Appellant’s ejectment
action and transferring it to the trial court’s orphans’ court
division to be heard by a master, even though the Appellant
has the right to try the ejectment action either to a jury or a
judge sitting without a jury?
III. Whether the trial court abused its discretion or committed an
error of law by sua sponte dismissing Appellant’s ejectment
action and transferring it to the trial court’s orphans’ court
division to be tried to a master together with all of the
Appellee’s counterclaims[,] none of which arise from the same
transaction or occurrence as the ejectment action?
The Estate’s brief at 3-4.4
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3 The trial court entered a statement in lieu of opinion, asserting that the
order appealed from was interlocutory because the claims were preserved to
be raised in the orphans’ court. The court did not address the merits of the
Estate’s claims on appeal.
4 We note with displeasure that the Estate discusses all three of these issues
in a single argument section of its brief, in violation of Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a)
(stating that “[t]he argument shall be divided into as many parts as there are
questions to be argued; and shall have at the head of each part . . . the
particular point treated therein, followed by such discussion and citation of
(Footnote Continued Next Page)
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We first address our appellate jurisdiction.5 The Estate asserts that the
order appealed from constitutes a final order pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 341 or,
alternatively, a collateral order pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 313. Both the trial court
and Appellee assert that the order in question is not a final order because it
disposes of no claims, as they were preserved to be raised in the orphans’
court division.
We agree with the Estate that the order in question constitutes a final
order and is thus appealable. “It is well settled that questions as to the
appealability of an order go to the jurisdiction of the court asked to review the
order.” Pridgen v. Parker Hannifin Corp., 974 A.2d 1166, 1171 (Pa.Super.
2009) (citation omitted). Generally, an appeal lies only from a final order,
unless otherwise permitted by statute. See Forrester v. Hanson, 901 A.2d
548, 554 (Pa.Super. 2006). A final order is defined in Rule 341 as one that
“disposes of all claims and of all parties.” Pa.R.A.P. 341(b)(1). To determine
whether an order is final, this Court “must consider whether the practical
ramification of the order will be to dispose of the case, making review
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authorities as are deemed pertinent”). Counsel for the Estate is cautioned to
comply with the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure in the future.
5 This Court issued a rule to show cause order on November 28, 2022, with
respect to why this appeal should not be quashed as interlocutory. The Estate
filed a response, and this Court discharged the rule without rendering a
determination regarding appealability.
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appropriate.” Friia v. Friia, 780 A.2d 664, 667 (Pa.Super. 2001) (cleaned
up).
Here, the trial court’s order precludes the Estate and Appellee from
litigating any of their claims in the civil division, and therefore “disposes of all
claims and of all parties” as to that action. Pa.R.A.P. 341(b)(1). The case
was dismissed, despite the trial court giving leave for the parties to re-file
their actions in the orphans’ court. Accordingly, the order is final, and we
have jurisdiction to address the merits of the Estate’s claims. 6 See In re
Estate of Cantor, 621 A.2d 1021, 1022-23 (Pa.Super. 1993) (addressing the
merits of an appeal filed from an orphans’ court order dismissing claims
without prejudice due to lack of subject matter jurisdiction); see also In re
Caples, 1802 EDA 2020 (Pa.Super. filed August 16, 2021) (non-precedential
decision) (same).
All three of the Estate’s claims on appeal concern the lower court’s
jurisdiction. Our standard of review for questions involving subject matter
jurisdiction is as follows:
Jurisdiction over the subject matter is conferred solely by the
Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth. The test for whether
a court has subject matter jurisdiction inquires into the
competency of the court to determine controversies of the general
class to which the case presented for consideration belongs. Thus,
as a pure question of law, the standard of review in determining
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6 In light of our finding that the September 28, 2022 order was a final order,
we do not address the Estate’s alternative argument that the order satisfies
the requirements of a collateral order under Pa.R.A.P. 313.
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whether a court has subject matter jurisdiction is de novo and the
scope of review is plenary.
Mazur v. Trinity Area Sch. Dist., 961 A.2d 96, 101 (Pa. 2008) (cleaned up).
Concerning jurisdiction of the courts of common pleas, 42 Pa.C.S.
§ 931(a) provides that “[e]xcept where exclusive original jurisdiction of an
action or proceeding is by statute or by general rule . . . vested in another
court of this Commonwealth, the courts of common pleas shall have unlimited
original jurisdiction of all actions and proceedings[.]” Further, pursuant to 42
Pa.C.S. § 952,
[t]he divisions of a court of common pleas are administrative units
composed of those judges of the court responsible for the
transaction of specified classes of the business of the court. In a
court of common pleas having two or more divisions each division
of the court is vested with the full jurisdiction of the whole court,
but the business of the court may be allocated among the divisions
of the court by or pursuant to general rules.
Id. Our High Court has also stated that “it is now recognized that the divisions
of the common pleas courts are established essentially for purposes of
administrative convenience, and that each division is vested with the full
jurisdiction of the whole court.” In re Estate of Hall, 535 A.2d 47, 59 (Pa.
1987) (citing § 952).
Concerning the jurisdiction of an orphans’ court division, § 711 of the
Pennsylvania Probate, Estates, and Fiduciaries Code (“PEF Code”) states that
the orphans’ court shall have mandatory jurisdiction over the following
enumerated matters pertinent to the instant appeal:
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(1) Decedent’s estates.--The administration and distribution of
the real and personal property of decedents’ estates and the
control of the decedent’s burial.
....
(12) Fiduciaries.--The appointment, control, settlement of the
accounts of, removal and discharge of, and allowance to and
allocation of compensation among, all fiduciaries of estates and
trusts, jurisdiction of which is exercised through the orphans’ court
division, except that the register shall continue to grant letters
testamentary and of administration to personal representatives as
heretofore.
....
(13) Specific performance of contracts.--To enforce
specifically the performance by either party of any agreement
made by a decedent to purchase or sell real or personal property.
20 Pa.C.S. § 711.
Additionally, § 712 of the PEF Code explains that the concurrent
jurisdiction of the court of common pleas may be, but is not required to be,
exercised through its orphans’ court division under certain circumstances.
Specifically, § 712 states in relevant part as follows:
§ 712. Nonmandatory exercise of jurisdiction through
orphans’ court division
The jurisdiction of the court of common pleas over the
following may be exercised through either its orphans’ court
division or other appropriate division:
....
(3) Other matters.--The disposition of any case
where there are substantial questions concerning
matters enumerated in section 711 and also matters
not enumerated in that section.
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20 Pa.C.S. § 712. Subsection 712(3) is notable because it provides that the
orphans’ court division may exercise jurisdiction when a controversy
implicates items enumerated in § 711 (such as those involving the
administration of an estate, fiduciaries, and specific performance of a
contract), yet also involves claims that are not enumerated in that section
(such as an ejectment action). Our High Court has held that Ҥ 712 confers
upon the orphans’ court division broad residual and discretionary jurisdiction
over all matters that are subject to resolution by courts of common pleas
generally.” In re Estate of Hall, supra at 59 (cleaned up).
In this context, we review a court’s jurisdictional decision for an abuse
of discretion. See R.M. v. J.S., 20 A.3d 496, 500 (Pa.Super. 2011). Our
Supreme Court has explained,
an abuse of discretion occurs when the court has overridden or
misapplied the law, when its judgment is manifestly unreasonable,
or when there is insufficient evidence of record to support the
court’s findings. An abuse of discretion requires clear and
convincing evidence that the trial court misapplied the law or
failed to follow proper legal procedures.
Id. (cleaned up).
With this background in mind, we discern no abuse of discretion in the
trial court’s determination that the orphans’ court division may exercise
jurisdiction over both parties’ claims in this litigation. While the civil division
is ordinarily a proper location to resolve the ejectment action, practically all of
Appellee’s counterclaims here fall within the mandatory jurisdiction of the
orphans’ court as provided by the three subsections of § 711 discussed above.
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Specifically, Appellee averred that the decedent transferred to her a one-third
interest in the Property subject to the ejectment action prior to decedent’s
death. She also asserted that she has a partial residual interest in the Estate’s
assets under the decedent’s will, which would include the Property. Both of
these contentions implicate the administration and distributions of the
decedent’s personal and real property under § 711(1).
Further, Appellee pled that the executrix of the Estate breached her
duties by entering into an agreement of sale for the Property for below market
value and by failing to provide an accounting. As such, Appellee requested
that the lower court freeze the Estate’s assets, order the executrix to prepare
an accounting, and schedule a hearing concerning removal of the executrix.
These demands all relate to the control and removal of a fiduciary pursuant to
§ 711(12).
Moreover, the new matter raised by Appellee alleged that the Estate
agreed to allow her to remain on the Property if certain conditions were met.
She requested that the lower court enter an order granting specific
performance on that contract. Therefore, this counterclaim invokes § 711(13)
and jurisdiction over specific performance of contracts involving an estate.
Since the orphans’ court would have mandatory jurisdiction over the
counterclaims raised by Appellee, pursuant to § 712(3), the orphans’ court
would be permitted to exercise nonmandatory jurisdiction over any other
claims, including those not enumerated in § 711. This would include the
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Estate’s ejectment claim. Thus, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in
concluding that the orphans’ court should exercise jurisdiction over all the
parties’ entangled claims.7
Indeed, the orphans’ court’s assumption of nonmandatory jurisdiction
would permit it to efficiently resolve the claims related to the decedent’s estate
in a single proceeding, and thus further the purpose of § 712. As the official
comment to § 712 states: “The addition of new paragraph (3) is intended to
avoid multiple actions in different divisions in a case involving two or more
questions, one of which would ordinarily be decided by the orphans’ court
division and the other by the trial or family division.” Hence, the very purpose
of § 712 is to promote judicial economy and prevent parallel, yet related,
proceedings, and accordingly avoid the situation the Estate advocates for
herein.
Instead of addressing § 712, the Estate challenges the orphans’ court’s
subject matter jurisdiction by highlighting procedural differences between the
civil and orphans’ court divisions. The Estate argues that it is entitled to relief
because the trial court “effectively eviscerated [the Estate’s] right to have the
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7 In its statement in lieu of opinion, the trial court did not expressly indicate
whether jurisdiction of the orphans’ court division would be exercised under
the nonmandatory provision pursuant to § 712(3). Nonetheless, we are
permitted to affirm the trial court on any basis supported by the record. See
In re Amended and Restated Deed of Trust of Margaret M. Holdship
Dated February 26, 1981 fbo Holdship, 288 A.3d 919, 933 n.10 (Pa.Super.
2023).
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[e]jectment [a]ction tried by a jury or a judge of the court of common pleas
according to the rules of civil procedure.” The Estate’s brief at 11.8 Further,
the Estate laments that there is no rule permitting appointment of a master
to hear ejectment actions. Id. at 10. Finally, the Estate asserts that the trial
court erred in permitting the counterclaims to be raised by Appellee pursuant
to Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1056 because they did not “arise from
the same transaction or occurrence or series of transactions or occurrences as
the original ejectment action.” Id. We find the Estate’s arguments
unpersuasive.
With respect to the Estate’s right to a jury trial and the trial court’s
decision to eventually appoint a master, we note that the trial court stated the
following in its Statement in Lieu of Opinion:
To the extent that our order conflicts with the right to a jury trial
for an ejectment action and in the event the moving party would
request a jury trial rather than proceed under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3311,
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8 The Estate cites, without discussion, the case of Baskin & Sears v. Edward
J. Boyle Co., 483 A.2d 1365 (Pa. 1984). Therein, the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court held that the lower court erred when it transferred to the orphans’ court
division a case involving claims of negligent estate planning/administration,
unfair trade practices, malpractice, fraud, and intentional infliction of
emotional distress that arose from transactions between an estate and a
revocable life insurance trust. See id. at 1367. The High Court found that
the issues raised by the plaintiffs were only collaterally related to § 711(1)
and (2) and it was clear the trial division had jurisdiction over all of the claims.
See id. at 1367-38. In the instant case, by contrast, it is clear that some of
the counterclaims directly invoke subjects enumerated in § 711 and therefore
are within the mandatory jurisdiction of the orphans’ court division. Thus, the
Baskin & Sears Court did not address the issue of whether nonmandatory
jurisdiction pursuant to § 712(3) was appropriate in the context of competing
related claims.
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the court shall afford the moving party a jury trial in orphan’s court
on the ejectment action and all other claims shall be referred to
the hearing officer.
Statement in Lieu of Opinion, 11/14/22, at 2 n.1 (cleaned up). Additionally,
pursuant to 20 Pa.C.S. § 777(a), a party in interest shall be entitled to a trial
by jury in cases before the orphans’ court “[w]hen a substantial dispute of fact
shall arise concerning the decedent’s title to property, real or personal[.]”
As we already highlighted, Appellee’s new matter and counterclaims
created a substantial dispute of fact concerning the decedent’s title to the
Property as of the time of his death. Accordingly, between the trial court’s
order and the discretionary rules allowing jury trials in proceedings before the
orphans’ court, the record before us does not support the conclusion that the
Estate will be deprived of its right to a trial by jury in the event of a transfer
to the orphans’ court. Nor would it be required to prosecute its ejectment
action through a master or hearing officer if this matter were transferred to
orphans’ court. As the Estate’s rights are protected, we discern no reversible
error.
We are likewise unmoved by the Estate’s argument that the trial court
erred in failing to limit or exclude Appellee’s counterclaims pursuant to
Pa.R.C.P. 1056(a). That rule provides that “[t]he defendant may plead a
counterclaim which arises from the same transaction or occurrence or series
of transactions or occurrences from which the cause of action arose.” Id. The
Estate baldly asserts, without further discussion, that the counterclaims
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asserted by Appellee did not arise from the same transactions or series of
transactions from which the ejectment action arises. Our review of the
certified record does not support this conclusion.
Appellee’s counterclaim for specific performance of a contract, relating
to an agreement by the Estate to allow her to remain on the Property,
specifically concerns the Estate’s legal authority to eject her. It therefore
arises from the series of transactions or occurrences between the Estate and
Appellee leading up to the ejectment action. Similarly, Appellee’s
counterclaims requesting legal fees in defending the ejectment action and for
an accounting/removal of the executrix based on her decision to enter into an
agreement of sale below the Property’s appraised value arise from the same
series of transactions or occurrences between the Estate and Appellee. As our
High Court has observed, Rule 1056 does not prevent assertion of
counterclaims that sound in equity. See Goodwin v. Rodriguez, 554 A.2d
6, 8 (Pa. 1989) (discussing prior case law and noting that in a landlord’s
ejectment action, a tenant may raise a counterclaim for breach of the implied
warranty of habitability in a residential lease).
Furthermore, the Estate cites no authority prohibiting Appellee from
asserting the new matter or the other affirmative defenses raised in the
response, all of which call into question the Estate’s ownership of the Property.
The new matter pled by Appellee raises the “substantial questions” concerning
items enumerated in § 711(1), (12), and (13) and the Estate’s ejectment
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claim. Therefore, this argument fails to overcome the trial court’s conclusion
that the orphans’ court may properly exercise nonmandatory jurisdiction over
this litigation.
However, that does not end our review. Although we find that the trial
court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the orphans’ court division
could assume jurisdiction over all claims, the Estate also challenges the trial
court’s decision to dismiss the action instead of transferring both sets of claims
to the orphans’ court pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 5103(c). The Estate argues
that it will incur costs unnecessarily by having to re-draft the complaint and
pay additional fees to file and serve the new petition. See Estate’s brief at
13.
Rule 5103(c) provides as follows:
(c) Interdivisional transfers.--If an appeal or other matter is
taken to, brought in, or transferred to a division of a court to which
such matter is not allocated by law, the court shall not quash such
appeal or dismiss the matter, but shall transfer the record thereof
to the proper division of the court, where the appeal or other
matter shall be treated as if originally filed in the transferee
division on the date first filed in a court or magisterial district.
42 Pa.C.S. § 5103.
Upon review, we agree with the Estate that the trial court should have
transferred the proceeding instead of dismissing the claims. The proper
remedy when a case has been brought in the wrong division of a multi-
divisional common pleas court is not a dismissal, but rather a transfer to the
correct division. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 5103(c). This precept “applies equally to
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dismissal entered with and without prejudice.” In re Estate of Ciuccarelli,
81 A.3d 953, 960 (Pa.Super. 2013). Thereafter, the matter should be treated
as if it was originally filed in the transferred division on the date first filed in a
court or magisterial district. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 5103(c). Under the
circumstances of this case, the trial court erred by dismissing all counts
without prejudice. See In re Estate of Ciuccarelli, supra at 961 (holding
that pursuant to § 5103(c), the trial court erred in dismissing the appellant’s
claims without prejudice due to lack of subject matter jurisdiction instead of
transferring them); see also In re Caples, supra (non-precedential decision
at 13) (vacating a lower court’s order dismissing a petition for lack of subject
matter jurisdiction and remanding for transfer of the petition pursuant to
§ 5103(c)).
Based upon the foregoing, we reverse the order dismissing all claims
without prejudice, and remand the case for the entry of an order transferring
the case to the orphans’ court division pursuant to § 5103(c).
Order reversed. Case remanded for further proceedings. Jurisdiction
relinquished.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 7/6/2023
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