Estate of: Carol L. Stone Teel

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 17, 2021
Docket33 MDA 2021
StatusUnpublished

This text of Estate of: Carol L. Stone Teel (Estate of: Carol L. Stone Teel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of: Carol L. Stone Teel, (Pa. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

J-S20009-21

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

ESTATE OF: CAROL L. STONE TEEL : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : APPEAL OF: TODD TEEL : : : : : : No. 33 MDA 2021

Appeal from the Order Entered October 7, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Wyoming County Civil Division at No(s): 2016-00034

BEFORE: NICHOLS, J., KING, J., and MUSMANNO, J.

MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.: FILED AUGUST 17, 2021

Appellant Todd Teel appeals pro se from the order that denied his

objections and motion to compel and approved an interim account and

distribution in this estate matter. On appeal, Appellant contends that the

orphans’ court erred and abused its discretion in its interpretation of a will and

codicil. Following our review, we affirm on the basis of the orphans’ court’s

October 7, 2020 findings of fact and conclusions of law.

A prior panel of this Court summarized the relevant facts and procedural

history of this matter as follows:

Carol L. Stone Teel (Decedent) died testate on February 10, 2016. Pursuant to Decedent’s Will, dated October 8, 2009, and subsequent Codicil, dated June 2, 2015, Decedent’s heirs were her six children: Tammy Kresege, Deborah Tavernia, David Teel, John Teel, Timothy Teel, and Appellant. The Will named Barbara Fuhrey and William Fuhrey (collectively, co-executors) as co- executors of Decedent’s Estate. The primary assets of the Estate included a farmhouse with an appraised value of $125,000.00, a J-S20009-21

tenant house and one acre of surrounding land with an appraised value of $115,000.00, the balance of farmland (153.85 acres) with an appraised value of $393,000.00, and the oil, gas, and mineral rights in the real estate, as well as cash and personal property. The Will and Codicil were admitted to probate.

On May 5, 2017, the co-executors filed an interim account and a petition for adjudication/statement of proposed distribution of the Estate’s property (proposed distribution). On July 10, 2017, Appellant, Tammy Kresege, and Deborah Tavernia filed objections to the interim account and proposed distribution. Appellant, Tammy Kresege, and Deborah Tavernia filed amended objections to the interim account and proposed distribution on June 6, 2018. Tammy Kresege and Deborah Tavernia subsequently reached a settlement of their personal claims against the Estate and no longer wished to pursue their objections to the interim account and proposed distribution. Appellant, however, continued to pursue pro se the objections to the interim account and proposed distribution.

On November 15, 2018, the co-executors filed an amendment to paragraph 9 of the proposed distribution that addressed the oil, gas, and mineral rights in Decedent’s real estate. After a hearing on Appellant’s objections to the interim account and proposed distribution, the orphans’ court ordered Appellant to submit “a list of all assets [he believed] were not properly inventoried as part of the [E]state.” Orphans’ Court Order, 4/4/19. Appellant filed pro se his list of assets with the orphans’ court judge’s chambers on April 22, 2019.

On June 11, 2019, the orphans’ court dismissed Appellant’s objections and approved the interim account and proposed distribution of the Estate’s property. On July 11, 2019, Appellant filed pro se a “motion to compel a complete [interpretation] of [the] Will by [the orphans’] court and stay [its] dismissal and approval of interim account” (motion to compel). This motion to compel bears a timestamp of entry on the docket of July 11, 2019, at 10:15 a.m. Later that same day, Appellant filed pro se a notice of appeal of the order entered “the 12th day of July, 2019.” A review of the record demonstrates that Appellant intended to appeal the order entered June 11, 2019. The notice of appeal bears a timestamp of entry on the docket of July 11, 2019, at 10:35 a.m.

-2- J-S20009-21

On July 16, 2019, the orphans’ court denied Appellant’s motion to compel on the ground that Appellant filed a notice of appeal to this Court, which stayed all matters pending appeal. Orphans’ Court Order, 7/16/19. That same day, the orphans’ court ordered Appellant to file a concise statement of errors complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) within 21 days. Appellant timely complied. On October 4, 2019, in lieu of its Rule 1925(a) opinion, the orphans’ court entered an order stating that its June 11, 2019 order was not a final order and Appellant failed to request an interlocutory appeal. Orphans’ Court Order, 10/4/19.

Estate of Teel, 1306 MDA 2019, 2020 WL 1867006 (Pa. Super. filed Apr. 20,

2020) (unpublished mem. at 1-4) (footnotes omitted, some formatting

altered).

The prior panel concluded that it had jurisdiction because the order was

immediately appealable as an orphans’ court order confirming an account,

interpreting a will and codicil, and determining an interest in real property

under Pa.R.A.P. 342(a)(1), (3), and (6).1 Id. at 6. After review, the panel

remanded this matter to the orphans’ court “to make findings of fact and

conclusions of law with regard to Appellant’s issues, specifically resolving the

issue of ambiguity with the use of the word ‘other’ as it appears in the

[c]odicil.” Id. at 9.

On October 7, 2020, the orphans’ court made its findings of fact and

conclusions of law, denied Appellant’s objections and motion to compel, and

approved the interim account and proposed distribution. Order, 10/7/20.

Appellant filed a timely appeal, and the orphans’ court directed Appellant to

____________________________________________

1 For these same reasons, we conclude that the order underlying the instant

appeal is immediately appealable and that we have jurisdiction in this matter.

-3- J-S20009-21

file concise statement of errors complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P.

1925(b). Appellant filed his Rule 1925(b) statement on December 29, 2020.

On February 4, 2021, the orphans’ court filed a Rule 1925(a) statement relying

on and incorporating its October 7, 2020 findings of facts and conclusions of

law.

Initially, we note that in his pro se brief, Appellant’s statement of

questions presented spans thirteen pages. However, it bears nearly no

correlation to Appellant’s Rule 1925(b) statement. It is well settled that any

issues not included in a timely filed court-ordered Rule 1925(b) statement are

waived on appeal. M.G. v. L.D., 155 A.3d 1083, 1092 (Pa. Super. 2017).

Moreover, we note that although the argument portion of Appellant’s brief is

very broad in scope, it consists of conclusory statements, accusations, and

assertions of Appellant’s beliefs that are not supported by argument, the

record, or relevant legal authority. This Court has stated:

While this court is willing to liberally construe materials filed by a pro se litigant, we note that appellant is not entitled to any particular advantage because he lacks legal training. As our Supreme Court has explained, any layperson choosing to represent himself in a legal proceeding must, to some reasonable extent, assume the risk that his lack of expertise and legal training will prove his undoing.

Branch Banking and Trust v. Gesiorski, 904 A.2d 939, 942 (Pa. Super.

2006) (formatting altered and citation omitted). “The Rules of Appellate

Procedure state unequivocally that each question an appellant raises is to be

supported by discussion and analysis of pertinent authority.” Eichman v.

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