In re Estate of Livingston

574 A.2d 77, 393 Pa. Super. 198, 1990 Pa. Super. LEXIS 769
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 26, 1990
DocketNo. 01809
StatusPublished

This text of 574 A.2d 77 (In re Estate of Livingston) 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
In re Estate of Livingston, 574 A.2d 77, 393 Pa. Super. 198, 1990 Pa. Super. LEXIS 769 (Pa. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinions

CAVANAUGH, Judge:

This is an appeal from an order dismissing exceptions to a decree nisi in the Court of Common Pleas, Fayette County. Appellant presents two issues for our review. First, whether the appellant, who is the surviving spouse of the decedent and was the administratrix of decedent’s estate, filed a timely claim against the estate; and second, whether the appellant’s claim is barred by the doctrine of laches. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the order of the lower court.

[200]*200Ronald G. Livingston, the decedent, died on August 9, 1980, survived by his spouse, Margaret L. Livingston, the appellant herein, and his father, John L. Livingston, the appellee herein. At his death, the decedent was separated from his wife and resided with his father. Letters of Administration were granted to Mrs. Livingston on August 18, 1980.

On or about August 20, 1980, Mrs. Livingston inventoried a safe deposit box in the name of the decedent which contained certificates of deposit, some of which were in the joint names of the decedent and Mrs. Livingston, and some of which were in the decedent’s name alone. It is the certificates which were in the decedent’s name alone at the time of his death which are the subject matter of this appeal.

After she inventoried the safe deposit box, Mrs. Livingston had the certificates registered in the name of the decedent’s estate. Thereafter, the inheritance tax return was prepared, signed and filed by Mrs. Livingston, listing the certificates of deposit as estate assets. On November 6, 1980, not very long after the administration of the estate commenced, Mrs. Livingston paid herself an administratrix fee of $15,108 and paid an attorney fee of $15,108, both of which were made from estate funds. It appears that Mrs. Livingston performed no further duties as administratrix of the estate and she did not file an inventory, an account,- or complete the administration of the estate.

On June 9, 1987, almost seven years after the decedent’s death, Mrs. Livingston filed a claim dated May 22, 1987 against the estate. ' The basis of her claim was that the certificates were entireties property at the time of the decedent’s death; that because she was the surviving tenant, she was entitled to all of the money on deposit in the certificates; and that the certificates were, therefore, not estate assets. On June 15, 1987, decedent’s father, John L. Livingston, petitioned the court to remove Mrs. Livingston as administratrix because of the neglect of her duties and conflict of interest. On June 16, 1987, Mrs. Livingston was [201]*201removed as personal representative and attorney Daniel L. Webster was appointed as administrator d.b.n. Attorney Webster filed an inventory, first and final account, and petition for distribution on January 7, 1988. Mr. Webster’s inventory treated the certificates as property owned solely by the decedent at the time of his death. The proposed distribution was $20,000 plus half of the residue to Mrs. Livingston and half of the residue to the decedent’s father.

Mrs. Livingston filed objections to the account and petition for distribution based on her claim that the certificates were entireties property.

The lower court, in denying Mrs. Livingston’s objections relied on Estate of Cohen, 469 Pa. 29, 364 A.2d 888 (1976). In Cohen, supra, the executrix alleged that the orphans court erred in disallowing her claim against the estate because the executrix failed to give notice of her claim against the estate until more than six years after loans, which were the bases of executrix’s claim, had been made. The supreme court affirmed, holding that the executrix did not toll the six-year statute of limitations.

Appellant did nothing under the above section to toll the statute of limitations. Appellant argues that since she was the personal representative of the estate, she was required to do nothing since she would have been giving notice to herself, a fruitless act. We do not agree with appellant’s position. Section 3384 was designed to give all persons who have an interest in the estate notice of possible outstanding claims. While the letter of the act does not cover the situation in the instant case, the spirit of the law required that appellant give notice of her claim and her failure to do so bars her claim. See Kuhlman’s Estate. Rehfuss’s Appeal, 180 Pa. 109, 36 A. 566 (1897).

Id. 469 Pa. at 34, 364 A.2d at 891.

Thus, our Supreme Court has clearly mandated that personal representatives of estates, who also have claims against the estate, must give notice consistent with the provisions [202]*202set forth in 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 3384 in order to toll the applicable statute of. limitations.1

Mrs. Livingston clearly was aware that the certificates were the property of the estate. She registered the certificates in the name of the estate and paid the inheritance tax on the certificates in her capacity as administratrix. At no time did Mrs. Livingston claim the certificates to be entireties property until her claim against the estate was filed almost seven years after the filing of the tax returns. Furthermore, the record indicates that in Mrs. Livingston’s petition to file a first and final account and to continue as administratrix, filed in June of 1987 after decedent’s father filed petitions to remove her as administratrix, she again listed the certificates as estate property. The argument asserted by appellant on appeal is totally inconsistent with her position during the time she acted as administratrix of the estate. Given the position stated by our supreme court in Estate of Cohen, supra, it is simply too late for Mrs. Livingston to now assert a new claim that the certificates are entireties property.

We agree with the trial court that in the circumstances of this case the proper statute of limitations to be applied is 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5527 which provides for a six-yeár period.2 To [203]*203decide if the claim filed on June 9, 1987 was timely filed, we must determine when the statute of limitations began to run. Various starting dates have been proposed by the parties, the date of death (August 8, 1980), the date letters of administration were granted to the administratrix (August 20, 1980), the date the safety deposit boxes were inventoried and the certificates of deposit discovered (August 20, 1980), and the date the inheritance tax return was filed (November 6, 1980). No matter which of these events commenced the running of the statute, the claim filed June 9, 1987 is beyond the six-year limitation and is barred.

Counsel for Mrs. Livingston mailed a letter dated February 18, 1986 to the attorney for the estate, which Mrs. Livingston now alleges tolled the statute. However, that correspondence does not state a claim against the estate. It is addressed to counsel and suggests that alleged errors made by counsel in the estate administration process had given Mrs. Livingston in her capacity as “heir and surviving spouse” a potential claim against counsel. That letter concludes, “We are not anxious to make a claim against you for this amount, so we are proposing the above resolution.” In order to toll the statute of limitations, an individual with a claim against an estate must do one of the acts specified in 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 3384 entitled Notice of Claim. Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
574 A.2d 77, 393 Pa. Super. 198, 1990 Pa. Super. LEXIS 769, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-livingston-pasuperct-1990.