In Re: F.R.S., Appeal of: Jablonsky, J.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 11, 2024
Docket1841 EDA 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of In Re: F.R.S., Appeal of: Jablonsky, J. (In Re: F.R.S., Appeal of: Jablonsky, J.) 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: F.R.S., Appeal of: Jablonsky, J., (Pa. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

J-S06028-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

IN RE: FREDERICK R. SCOTT, : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF DECEDENT : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: JULIE A. JABLONSKY : : : : : No. 1841 EDA 2023

Appeal from the Decree Entered June 26, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County Orphans' Court at No(s): 9180-2020

BEFORE: DUBOW, J., McLAUGHLIN, J., and SULLIVAN, J.

MEMORANDUM BY McLAUGHLIN, J.: FILED JUNE 11, 2024

Julie A. Jablonsky appeals pro se from the final decree entered as to the

estate of her father, Frederick R. Scott (“Decedent”), and dismissing her

exceptions to the decree nisi. We affirm.

Decedent died testate in May 2020. Decedent’s grandson, Dylan Scott

(“Executor”), was granted letters testamentary and appointed executor of the

estate. Executor filed a First and Partial Account and a Petition for Abatement

of Specific Bequest. The Petition asked the court to enter an order allowing

Executor to sell Decedent’s real property, where Jablonsky resided, and which

Decedent had devised to her, to satisfy the claims against the estate.

Jablonsky, through counsel, filed objections to the First and Partial

Account. She also filed an answer to the Petition for Abatement of Specific

Bequest, a brief in support, and two memoranda of law. J-S06028-24

The court appointed Eric R. Strauss, Esquire (“the Master”) as a master

to issue recommendations to the court. The Master filed an interim report, a

second interim report, and, following a hearing, a Report of Master (“Report”).

The Report recommended that the court grant the Petition for Abatement of

Specific Bequest, order Executor to sell the real property, and order Jablonsky

to vacate the residence. It recommended any remaining proceeds following

the sale be the subject of a Second and Final Account. The Report also

recommended that the court deny Jablonksy’s objections to the First and

Partial Account except for her objection to Executor’s counsel fees, which the

Report recommended be deferred until review of the Second and Final

Account.

The court entered a decree nisi adopting the findings of the Report and

implementing its recommendations. The decree nisi dismissed Jablonsky’s

objections to the First and Partial Account, except for her objection to

Executor’s legal fees, which the court deferred until the filing of the Second

and Final Estate Account. It granted the Petition for Abatement of Specific

Bequests and ordered Jablonsky to vacate the real property.

Jablonsky thereafter proceeded pro se. She filed exceptions to the

decree nisi, a Petition to Intervene and an Amended Petition to Intervene, and

a Motion for Nunc Pro Tunc to Correct Omissions. The court denied Jablonsky’s

petitions and motions, and on June 26, 2023, entered a final decree denying

her exceptions to the decree nisi.

-2- J-S06028-24

Jablonsky appealed. The court ordered her to file a concise statement

of matters complained of on appeal, pursuant to Rule 1925(b). See Pa.R.A.P.

1925(b). Jablonsky timely filed a statement spanning 21 pages and raising 52

issues. The next day, she timely filed an amended statement raising 60 issues.

The trial court issued a Rule 1925(a) opinion finding Jablonsky had

waived all issues for review because of the deficient nature of her Rule 1925(b)

statement. The opinion stated,

[W]hile the number of issues identified in [Jablonksy’s] 1925(b) Statement, by itself is not dispositive, when compared to the complexity of the case and the limited number of issues before the Master, we cannot find that this case, involving a one hour Master’s hearing, warrants the number of errors alleged by [Jablonsky]. . . .

Rather than assisting this [c]ourt in preparing an opinion, [Jablonsky’s] voluminous Rule 1925(b) Statement has hindered our ability to address the issues she seeks to raise before the Superior Court. Many of the issues raised by [Jablonksy] are redundant, frivolous and provide lengthy explanations concerning errors asserted. Such a statement is contrary to Rule 1925(b)(4) and circumvents the purpose of the Rule, effectively precluding meaningful appellate review.

Trial Court Opinion, filed 9/14/23, at 10-11.

The opinion also stated the court found the Report had been sufficiently

detailed, was based on a thorough hearing, and addressed all issues Jablonsky

had timely raised in her objections to the First and Partial Account and her

Answer to the Petition for Abatement of Specific Bequests. The opinion stated

the court “reviewed the case [and] examined the [R]eport and

recommendations” before adopting it and entering the decree nisi. Id. at 12.

-3- J-S06028-24

The opinion also addressed Jablonsky’s exceptions to the decree nisi.

The court found the exceptions to be “imprecise and stated with extensive

discussion” and “to be seeking further judicial hearings or de novo review of

the matters considered by the Master.” Id. The court concluded that the

Report “was supported by competent and adequate evidence as reflected in

the record, that the [M]aster committed no error in applying the law to the

relevant facts and that [Jablonsky’s] exceptions were without merit.” Id. at

13.

Rule 1925(b) provides that “[i]f the judge entering the order giving rise

to the notice of appeal . . . desires clarification of the errors complained of on

appeal, the judge may enter an order directing the appellant to file of record

in the trial court and serve on the judge a concise statement of the errors

complained of on appeal[.]” Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). “The function of the concise

statement is to clarify for the judge who issued the order the grounds on which

the aggrieved party seeks appellate review – so as to facilitate the writing of

the opinion.” Commonwealth v. Rogers, 250 A.3d 1209, 1224 (Pa. 2021).

However, “when an appellant fails adequately to identify in a concise

manner the issues sought to be pursued on appeal, the trial court is impeded

in its preparation of a legal analysis which is pertinent to those issues.”

Commonwealth v. Landis, 277 A.3d 1172, 1181 (Pa.Super. 2022) (citation

omitted), appeal denied, 292 A.3d 849 (Pa. 2023). Thus, where a 1925(b)

statement is vague, incoherent, or outrageously protracted, we may find

waiver. See Commonwealth v. Vurimindi, 200 A.3d 1031, 1038-39

-4- J-S06028-24

(Pa.Super. 2018); Tucker v. R.M. Tours, 939 A.2d 343, 346-47 (Pa.Super.

2007); Kanter v. Epstein, 866 A.2d 394, 400-01 (Pa.Super. 2004).

“Although Rule 1925(b) dictates that the number of issues raised in a

concise statement will not be grounds for finding waiver, this principle applies

only ‘[w]here non-redundant, non-frivolous issues are set forth in an

appropriately concise manner[.]’” Int. of D.R., 216 A.3d 286, 291 (Pa.Super.

2019) (quoting Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b)(4)(iv)). An excessive number of issues is

grounds for finding waiver where the complexity of the case does not

substantiate the number of issues and the trial court makes a finding the

appellant intended “to deliberately circumvent the meaning and purpose of

Rule 1925(b).” Vurimindi, 200 A.3d at 1039 (quoting Eiser v. Brown &

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Bluebook (online)
In Re: F.R.S., Appeal of: Jablonsky, J., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-frs-appeal-of-jablonsky-j-pasuperct-2024.