In Re: Sin Yeul Harrison

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: November 6, 2023
• Docket: A24A0489
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ November 06, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A24A0489. IN RE: SIN YEUL HARRISON, DECEASED.

After the beneficiaries of Sin Yeul Harrison’s will filed a petition to cite Dennis Patrick McGrath for an accounting and breach of fiduciary duty, the Probate Court of Richmond County entered an order revoking the letters of testamentary and removing McGrath as the executor of Harrison’s estate. In addition, McGrath was ordered to turn over all estate documents and materials to the successor executrix within five days of the order. McGrath then filed this direct appeal. As a general matter, an order of the Richmond County Probate Court may be appealed directly.1 However, the order must be final. See OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1) (appeals generally may be taken from “[a]ll final judgments, that is to say, where the case is no longer pending in the court below”); OCGA § 15-9-123 (a) (the provisions of Chapter 6 of Title 5 apply to probate appeals). Here, there is no indication that the administration of Harrison’s estate has concluded, and it appears that the probate case is ongoing. Accordingly, McGrath was required to use the interlocutory appeal procedures to obtain review of the order, and his failure to do so deprives us of jurisdiction over this appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-34 (b); In re Estate of Reece, 360 Ga.

1 A party in a civil case in “probate court” shall have the right of appeal to an appellate court without first seeking review in superior court. See OCGA § 15-9-123 (a); Ellis v. Johnson, 291 Ga. 127, 128 (1) n. 1 (728 SE2d 200) (2012). A “probate court” is defined as “a probate court of a county having a population of more than 90,000 persons according to the United States decennial census of 2010 or any future such census[.]” OCGA § 15-9-120 (2). Per the 2020 census, Richmond County has a population of more than 90,000. App. 364, 365-366 (861 SE2d 169) (2021). For this reason, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 11/06/2023 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.