Courtney v. Lawson

631 A.2d 102, 97 Md. App. 471, 1993 Md. App. LEXIS 141
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedSeptember 28, 1993
DocketNo. 666
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 631 A.2d 102 (Courtney v. Lawson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Courtney v. Lawson, 631 A.2d 102, 97 Md. App. 471, 1993 Md. App. LEXIS 141 (Md. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

WILNER, Chief Judge.

The testamentary law of Maryland sets forth an order of preference that the court must follow in appointing an administrator for an intestate estate. A decedent’s child is preferred over the decedent’s sibling, but the sibling is preferred over someone unrelated to the decedent. The law also, however, disqualifies a person under 18 from serving as administrator. The question before us is whether the mother of the decedent’s minor child, who has also been appointed as guardian of the property of the child but who is not the surviving spouse of or otherwise related to the decedent, is entitled by virtue of her guardianship status to exercise the child’s priority right to administer the decedent’s estate in preference to the decedent’s sister. In determining that question, we need to consider whether an administration durante minoritate is still authorized under Maryland law.

Underlying Facts

The relevant facts are undisputed. On or about June 28, 1991, Burl Courtney was shot to death by one or more Prince George’s County police officers as they were attempting to serve a warrant on him. He left surviving him two young children (Burl Lawson, age 11, and Tyler Courtney, a baby) and a sister (Joyace Courtney). Also surviving him were the mothers of his two children, Valerie Lawson (Burl’s mother) and Donna Goodloe (Tyler’s mother), neither of whom had he married. For the sake of convenience, we shall refer to the decedent as Courtney, to the children as Burl and Tyler, and to the other adults as Joyace, Valerie, and Donna, respectively. The only substantial asset in Courtney’s estate is a cause of action against the police officers for assault and violation of his civil rights.

On June 11, 1992 — about a year after Courtney’s death — his sister, Joyace, filed a petition with the Orphans’ Court for Prince George’s County for administration of a small estate [473]*473and was issued letters of administration. She stated in her petition that the only asset in the estate was a cause of action against the police officers, and indeed, through counsel, she filed such an action in U.S. District Court in her capacity as administrator of the estate. At some point — when is not clear from the record before us — Valerie and Donna also filed actions in that court, these being wrongful death actions on behalf of their respective children. The three actions were eventually consolidated and, we are told, are still pending, awaiting the outcome of this litigation.

On July 24, 1992, Valerie filed an objection to Joyace’s appointment, claiming that she, Valerie, as mother and next friend of Burl, had a higher priority to serve as administrator. She asked that her petition for administration, which was not attached to the objection and was not actually filed until October 16, 1992, be admitted to probate and that Joyace be removed as personal representative. We can find no indication in this record that Donna filed a similar petition in the Orphans’ Court. Nonetheless, following a hearing on or about October 16, 1992, the court entered an order removing Joyace as administrator and appointing in her place Valerie and Donna as co-administrators. Joyace appealed to the Circuit Court.

During the pendency of the de novo appeal, Valerie and Donna filed formal petitions with the Circuit Court to be appointed personal representatives. In their petitions, each asserted her status to be that of the mother of Courtney’s minor child. In subsequent memoranda, they also claimed to be the guardians of their respective children. Valerie, it appears, was appointed by the orphans’ court as guardian of Burl’s property in January, 1993. Donna’s status remained solely as the mother and natural guardian of Tyler until sometime after the Circuit Court decided the case. We are informed that she later was appointed as guardian of Tyler’s property nunc pro tunc. As additional grounds for the relief they sought, Valerie and Donna contended that Joyace had misrepresented certain facts concerning Courtney’s residence [474]*474and that she was not an heir and therefore had no pecuniary interest in the estate.

All parties filed motions for summary judgment. Although Valerie and Donna pressed their contention that Joyace should be removed because of the false information she supplied, the real issue, which everyone agreed would be dispositive if decided in Valerie’s and Donna’s favor, was whether, under Md.Code Est. & Trusts art., § 5-104, they had a higher priority to be appointed administrators than Joyace. Section 5-104 sets forth an order of priority that the court is required to observe. We are concerned here with three of the priority classes — the second (the surviving spouse and children of an intestate decedent), the eighth (other relations of the decedent who apply for administration), and the eleventh (any other person). Valerie and Donna were claiming the second priority as parents and guardians of their respective children. Joyace, according to them, had at best the eighth priority. The reason Valerie and Donna were claiming the right derivatively was because Est. & Trusts art., § 5-105(b) specifically provides that letters of administration may not be granted to a person who, at the time a determination of priority is made, is under the age of 18, as their respective children each were. Their contention was that the children had priority over Joyace and that, as the parents and guardians of the children, they stood in the shoes of the children and were entitled to administer the estate.

On February 8, 1993, the court entered an order appointing Valerie and Donna as co-personal representatives of Mr. Courtney’s estate, concluding that “[a]s the mothers and guardians of [Courtney’s] minor children, [Valerie and Donna] stand in the shoes of their children and in that capacity have a direct interest in the outcome of Courtney’s estate.” The court found that, in that capacity, Valerie and Donna were in the second priority class and that Joyace, as the decedent’s sister, was in the eighth priority class. Because it acted on that ground, the court did not address the issue of Joyace’s fitness to be administrator. It noted that “the only apparent reason to name [Joyace] as personal representative of the [475]*475estate is to allow her to designate counsel to represent the estate in pending federal litigation.” This appears to be the case; Joyace is not an heir and will receive nothing (other, possibly, than commissions) from the estate.

The Issues

In this appeal, Joyace argues that the order of priorities stated in § 5-104 is binding on the court, that although there is a second priority for the minor child of the decedent, there is no priority for such a child’s guardian or parent and no provision for a guardian or parent to assume the priority status of the child. Accordingly, she contends that, while she falls within the eighth listed priority, Valerie and Donna are within the eleventh. In response, Valerie asserts that, under the guardianship law, in particular Est. & Trusts art., § 13-206(c)(1), she stands in the shoes of her ward and is entitled to exercise the ward’s property right to administer his father’s estate. She argues that the child’s right to letters of administration is a valuable property right and that § 13~206(c)(l) vests in her, as Burl’s guardian, that property right. Donna joins in that argument but asserts, in addition, that she is entitled to administer the estate (with Valerie) by virtue of the common law right of administration

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Bluebook (online)
631 A.2d 102, 97 Md. App. 471, 1993 Md. App. LEXIS 141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/courtney-v-lawson-mdctspecapp-1993.