In Re Estate of Mathis

800 So. 2d 119, 2001 WL 1357038
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 6, 2001
Docket2001-CA-00165-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 800 So. 2d 119 (In Re Estate of Mathis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi 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 Mathis, 800 So. 2d 119, 2001 WL 1357038 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

800 So.2d 119 (2001)

In the Matter of the ESTATE OF T. Edgar MATHIS, Deceased.
Cornelius Parks and Sonja Parks, Appellants
v.
Richard Mathis, Executor, Appellee.

No. 2001-CA-00165-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 6, 2001.

*120 Gregory Livingston Harper, Jackson, for Appellants.

George C. Williams, Quitman, for Appellee.

Before McMILLIN, C.J., BRIDGES, CHANDLER, and BRANTLEY, JJ.

BRANTLEY, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Cornelius and Sonja Parks (Parkses) filed a petition for a will contest in the Chancery Court of Clarke County asserting that they were the natural, illegitimate children of T. Edgar Mathis and requested that the last will and testament be declared void. Their request was denied based on a failure to timely file a claim of inheritance. On appeal, the Parkses argue that the statute of limitations had not run because the executor had knowledge of their existence and failed to personally notify them.

FACTS

¶ 2. T. Edgar Mathis died testate on January 19, 2000, having duly executed a last will and testament dated March 22, 1990. Proof of due execution of the will was proven by affidavits of subscribing witnesses. The will was offered for probate under common form. The Chancery Court of Clarke County, Mississippi entered an order admitting the will to probate and appointed Richard D. Mathis executor on May 15, 2000. Richard Mathis took the executor's oath, and letters testamentary were issued by the clerk the same day. Richard Mathis executed and filed an affidavit stating that he had made diligent efforts to locate creditors and had found none on May 15, 2000. Notice to creditors was published in the county newspaper on May 18, 2000, May 25, 2000, and June 1, 2000. Ninety days after the first day of publication was August 16, 2000.

¶ 3. Pursuant to the terms of the will, the testator devised to two of his children, Doby G. Mathis and Sammie Mathis, a lot on Lake Eddins in Jasper County, Mississippi and all the rest residue and remainder of his estate to his wife, Iva House Mathis. Furthermore, his last will and testament stated that if, his wife, Iva Mathis, should predecease him, then his entire estate was devised and bequeathed to his five children. The wife, Iva House Mathis, survived the testator.

¶ 4. T. Edgar Mathis and Iva House Mathis were married fifty-eight years and to this union of marriage was born five children, namely, Richard Mathis, Tommy Mathis, Doby Mathis, Robert Mathis, and Sammie Mathis.

¶ 5. Cornelius Parks and Sonja Parks are alleged illegitimate children of T. Edgar *121 Mathis and not among the five children that were born to the union of marriage of T. Edgar Mathis and Iva House Mathis.

¶ 6. On August 18, 2000, Cornelius Parks and Sonja Parks filed a petition for contest of will alleging that they are the natural, illegitimate children of T. Edgar Mathis and requested that the last will and testament be declared void. On August 21, 2000, the executor filed the final account and request for discharge of the executor. On October 17, 2000, the Parkses filed affidavits in which they both state that they are the natural children of T. Edgar Mathis and that the executor and other members of T. Edgar Mathis's family were aware and had knowledge that T. Edgar Mathis was their natural father. On November 29, 2000, the executor filed a motion to dismiss for failure to timely file a will contest and a claim of inheritance. The chancellor granted the motion and dismissed the will contest. The Parkses subsequently filed a timely appeal alleging that the chancellor erred in dismissing the will contest in finding that they are time barred by Miss.Code. Ann. § 91-1-15(3)(c) (Rev. 1994).

DISCUSSION

¶ 7. This Court will not reverse a chancery court's findings when it is supported by substantial evidence unless the chancellor abused his discretion, was manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous, or an erroneous legal standard was applied. Smith v. Jones, 654 So.2d 480, 484 (Miss.1995).

DID THE CHANCELLOR ERR IN DISMISSING THE PETITION FOR CONTEST OF CORNELIUS PARKS AND SONJA PARKS PURSUANT TO SECTION 91-1-15(3)(c) OF THE MISSISSIPPI CODE?

¶ 8. On appeal, the Parkses first argue that Miss.Code Ann. § 91-1-15 (Rev. 1994) is not applicable because the executor had knowledge of the Parkses' status as alleged natural children of T. Edgar Mathis. Section 91-1-15 allows illegitimate children to adjudicate paternity in order to be established as an heir at law within specified time limits. The Parkses did not adjudicate their paternity and now believe that the executor's awareness relieved them of that duty. The Parkses argue that Miss.Code Ann. § 91-7-23 (Rev. 1994) should apply because of their claim that they are "interested parties" as provided in the statute. Section 91-7-23 allows any interested party to contest the validity of a will within two years. The Parkses theorize that the executor's knowledge of their status established them as an interested party. Hence, the Parkses assume that they do not have to determine their status under § 91-1-15 in order to contest the will. Therefore, the Parkses contend that they have a statutory right as an interested party under § 91-7-23 to contest this will. Next, the Parkses argue that if § 91-1-15 does apply, then the ninety day statute of limitations had not run because they were not personally notified of the probate proceedings and the court was not notified of their existence. The Parkses' final argument is that it would be a violation of their due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment if they are barred from proceeding with their potential claim. All of which the Parkses argue as reasons that dismissal of the petition for will contest was wrong.

¶ 9. On the contrary, the Estate argues the Parkses are not interested persons with standing to contest the will of T. Edgar Mathis under § 91-7-23 unless they have established their right to inherit pursuant to the terms of § 91-1-15(3)(c). Furthermore, the executor argues that he was not required by law to give notice to *122 the Parkses; therefore, his inaction could not be considered fraud. Thus, the statute of limitations had run and dismissal was wholly justified and statutorily mandated.

¶ 10. The Parkses' first contention is that they are an "interested party" within the meaning of § 91-7-23 since they are potential heirs at law and may have inherited under intestate succession. Section 91-7-23 provides that, "Any person interested may at any time within two years contest the validity of the will." It was held in the case of Hoskins v. Holmes County Community Hospital, 135 Miss. 89, 99 So. 570, 573 (1924), that the words "interested parties" in the statute mean parties who have a pecuniary interest in the subject of the contest, and under all of the authorities the heirs at law who would take the property of the deceased in the absence of a valid will or those whose interest is detrimentally affected by the will. Thus, in the event of a will contest, if the Parkses are considered an interested party, they have a statutory right to contest the will under § 91-7-23.

¶ 11. The Estate of T. Edgar Mathis asserts that the present situation is a matter of basic, statutory law. A will may be contested by any interested person within two years of its admission to probate pursuant to § 91-7-23.

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Bluebook (online)
800 So. 2d 119, 2001 WL 1357038, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-mathis-missctapp-2001.