Ex parte C.B. Grant, as administrator of the Estate of Phillip Frazier

Rel: 12/12/14
Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance
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SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
OCTOBER TERM, 2014-2015
_________________________
1131150
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Ex parte C.B. Grant, as administrator of the Estate of
Phillip Frazier, deceased
PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS
(In re: C.B. Grant, as administrator of the Estate of
Phillip Frazier, deceased
v.
Wiley Sanders Trucking Lines, Inc., et al.)
(Montgomery Circuit Court, CV-13-901245)
BRYAN, Justice.
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C.B. Grant, the administrator of the estate of Phillip
Frazier, deceased, filed this wrongful-death action in the
Montgomery Circuit Court. Mitarazza Davis,1 Frazier's widow,
moved to intervene in the lawsuit, alleging that Grant had
secured his appointment as administrator of the estate through
fraud and requesting that the wrongful-death action be stayed
pending the resolution of the dispute over the administration
of the estate by the Lowndes Probate Court. The Montgomery
Circuit Court entered an order declaring Grant's appointment
as administrator of the estate void and declaring Davis to be
the rightful party to serve as administrator of the estate.
The Montgomery Circuit Court stayed the wrongful-death action
pending the Lowndes Probate Court's appointment of Davis as
the administrator of Frazier's estate. Grant petitions this
Court for a writ of mandamus directing the Montgomery Circuit
Court to vacate its order and to lift the stay. We grant the
petition in part and deny it in part.
Facts and Procedural History
1
At various places in the materials before this Court,
Frazier's widow is referred to as Mitarazza Davis and
Mitarazza Davis Frazier. For ease of reference, we refer to
Frazier's widow as "Davis."
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Frazier, a resident of Lowndes County, died in a traffic
accident on June 9, 2013. Frazier's father, C.B. Grant,
petitioned the Lowndes Probate Court for letters of
administration. With his petition, Grant filed a "Waiver of
Notice and Consent of Appointment of Administrator"
purportedly executed by Davis. The Lowndes Probate Court
granted letters of administration to Grant on June 14, 2013.
On December 24, 2013, Grant, as administrator of
Frazier's estate, filed a wrongful-death action in the
Montgomery Circuit Court against Wiley Sanders Truck Lines,
Inc., Ronald Herbst, and several fictitiously named
defendants, alleging that their negligence and wantonness
caused the accident resulting in Frazier's death. On March
14, 2014, Davis filed a motion to intervene in the wrongful-
death action. In her motion, Davis asserted that Grant had
secured his appointment as administrator of Frazier's estate
through fraud and informed the court that she had petitioned
the Lowndes Probate Court to void Grant's appointment as
administrator of Frazier's estate and to appoint her as
administrator. Davis also moved the Montgomery Circuit Court
to stay the wrongful-death action pending resolution of the
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petition filed in the Lowndes Probate Court.2 Grant opposed
the motion to intervene and the motion to stay the wrongful-
death action.
On April 9, 2014, the Montgomery Circuit Court conducted
an evidentiary hearing on Davis's motions to intervene and to
stay. The court took testimony from witnesses, including
Davis, Grant, several of Frazier's family members, and a
handwriting expert. On April 11, 2014, the Montgomery Circuit
Court entered the following order:
"Based upon the testimony and evidence which was
presented, this Court hereby determines that C.B.
Grant was wrongfully appointed as the Administrator
of the Estate of Phillip Frazier in Lowndes County
Probate Case No. 2013-34. It is determined by this
Court that C.B. Grant's appointment ... is hereby
void and that the rightful party in interest to be
appointed as the Administrator of the Estate of
Phillip Frazier is Mitarazza Davis Frazier, the wife
of Phillip Frazier. ...
"Therefore, it is hereby ordered that this
proceeding is hereby stayed pending the appointment
of Mitarazza Davis Frazier as the Administrator of
the Estate of Phillip Frazier."
2
On July 21, 2014, the Lowndes Circuit Court granted
Davis's petition to remove the administration of Frazier's
estate to the Lowndes Circuit Court. The administration of
the estate remains pending in the Lowndes Circuit Court.
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Grant's motion to reconsider was denied, and he
subsequently filed this petition for the writ of mandamus,
seeking relief from the Montgomery Circuit Court's April 11,
2014, order.
Standard of Review
"'"'A writ of mandamus is an
extraordinary remedy that
requires a showing of: (1) a
clear legal right in the
petitioner to the order sought;
(2) an imperative duty on the
respondent to perform,
accompanied by a refusal to do
so; (3) the lack of another
adequate remedy; and (4) the
proper invoked jurisdiction of
the court.'"'"
Ex parte Siderius, 144 So. 3d 319, 323 (Ala. 2013)(quoting Ex
parte Punturo, 928 So. 2d 1030, 1033 (Ala. 2002), quoting in
turn Ex parte Bruner, 749 So. 2d 437, 439 (Ala. 1999), quoting
in turn Ex parte McNaughton, 728 So. 2d 592, 594 (Ala. 1998)).
Analysis
In his petition, Grant argues that the Montgomery Circuit
Court has no subject-matter jurisdiction over the
administration of Frazier's estate pending in Lowndes County.
We agree.
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In the present case, the administration of Frazier's
estate was initiated in the Lowndes Probate Court. It is
undisputed that that court was the proper court to initiate
administration of the estate.3 At the time the Lowndes
Probate Court issued letters of administration to Grant, it
assumed jurisdiction over the administration of Frazier's
estate, including jurisdiction over the "repeal or revocation"
of such letters and the resolution of all controversies
related to the administration of Frazier's estate. § 12-13-1,
Ala. Code 1975;4 see also DuBose v. Weaver, 68 So. 3d 814,
3
The administration of an estate must be initiated in the
probate court. Ex parte Smith, 619 So. 2d 1374, 1376 (Ala.
1993). Because Frazier was a resident of Lowndes County at
the time of his death, venue was proper in the Lowndes Probate
Court. § 43-8-162, Ala. Code 1975.
4
Section 12-13-1, Ala. Code 1975, provides, in pertinent
part:
"(b) The probate courts shall have original and
general jurisdiction over the following matters:
"....
"(2) The granting of letters
testamentary and of administration and the
repeal or revocation of the same.
"(3) All controversies in relation to
the right of executorship or of
administration.
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821-22 (Ala. 2011) (holding that an estate administration
begins, and the probate court obtains jurisdiction over the
administration, when the court issues letters of
administration). Davis has since removed the administration
of the estate to the Lowndes Circuit Court under the
procedures provided for in § 12-11-41, Ala. Code 1975, and has
filed a petition in the Lowndes Circuit Court seeking the
revocation of the letters of administration issued to Grant.
Therefore, up to the time of removal, the Lowndes Probate
Court was the sole court with jurisdiction over matters
relating to the appointment of an administrator and to the
administration of Frazier's estate, including whether the
letters of administration issued to Grant are due to be
revoked. Since the removal of the administration to the
Lowndes Circuit Court, the exclusive jurisdiction over the
administration of th estate, including issues involving the
appointment of an administrator, rests with the Lowndes
Circuit Court. The Montgomery Circuit Court never obtained
"....
"(c) All orders, judgments and decrees of
probate courts shall be accorded the same validity
and presumptions which are accorded to judgments and
orders of other courts of general jurisdiction."
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subject-matter jurisdiction over the administration of
Frazier's estate. DuBose, 68 So. 3d at 821 ("The circuit
court can obtain jurisdiction over a pending administration of
an estate only by removing the administration from the probate
court to the circuit court pursuant to § 12-11-41 ...."). Nor
does it have subject-matter jurisdiction to entertain
collateral attacks on the administration of the estate. See
Martin v. Clark, 554 So. 2d 1030, 1032 (Ala. 1989).
Accordingly, to the extent that the Montgomery Circuit Court's
April 11, 2014, order declared the appointment of Grant as
administrator of Frazier's estate void and declared Davis to
be the "rightful party in interest to be appointed as the
Administrator of the Estate of Phillip Frazier," that order is
a nullity.
Next, Grant contends that the Montgomery Circuit Court
exceeded its discretion when it ordered the wrongful-death
action stayed, because, he argues, Davis did not have
"standing" to request a stay of the wrongful-death action. We
note that a trial court has broad discretion to stay
proceedings in a civil action pending the resolution of
proceedings elsewhere. See Landis v. North American Co., 299
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U.S. 248, 254 (1936) ("[T]he power to stay proceedings is
incidental to the power inherent in every court to control the
disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time
and effort for itself, for counsel, and for litigants.").5 In
his petition, Grant cites no authority suggesting that, under
the circumstances of this case, Davis could not request a stay
of the wrongful-death action or that the Montgomery Circuit
Court exceeded its discretion by ordering a stay. To the
contrary, the proceedings in the Lowndes Circuit Court will
decide who controls the litigation in this case.6
Accordingly, Grant has failed to establish that he has a clear
legal right to relief from the stay entered by the Montgomery
Circuit Court.
Conclusion
For the above reasons, we grant Grant's petition insofar
as it challenges the Montgomery Circuit Court's purported
5
Nevertheless, a stay may not be "immoderate." Ex parte
American Family Care, Inc., 81 So. 3d 682, 683 (Ala. 2012).
6
The materials before us indicate that Grant and Davis
disagree as to how the wrongful-death action should be
handled, including whether Frazier's brother, who was also
Grant's son and the driver of the vehicle in which Frazier was
riding at the time of the fatal accident, should be added as
a defendant.
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exercise of jurisdiction over matters related to the
appointment of an administrator and the administration of
Frazier's estate. To the extent the circuit court's April 11,
2014, order declared the letters of administration issued to
Grant to be void and declared Davis the proper administrator
of Frazier's estate, we order the circuit court to vacate that
part of its order. As to Grant's request for relief from the
stay, however, we deny the petition.
PETITION GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART; WRIT ISSUED.
Moore, C.J., and Bolin, Murdock, and Main, JJ., concur.
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