Marr v. Hendrix

952 S.W.2d 693, 1997 Ky. LEXIS 116, 1997 WL 613460
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 2, 1997
DocketNo. 96-SC-476-DG
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 952 S.W.2d 693 (Marr v. Hendrix) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Kentucky Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marr v. Hendrix, 952 S.W.2d 693, 1997 Ky. LEXIS 116, 1997 WL 613460 (Ky. 1997).

Opinions

GRAVES, Justice.

This is a review of a Court of Appeals opinion that reversed an order dismissing a will contest in the Muhlenberg Circuit Court. The trial court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain a contest of the will of a Florida resident which was previously probated in Florida and then offered for ancillary probate in this state. The issue presented is whether a state in which real property is located has the authority to require the property to pass to the intended heirs in accordance with its laws even though the will containing the devise was probated in a foreign jurisdiction. With respect to real estate located in Kentucky, we conclude that local courts have residual jurisdiction to entertain such actions and decide those issues pertaining to the underlying validity of the will, i.e. testamentary capacity and undue influence, that were not raised and resolved in the foreign jurisdiction.

The applicable statutes are KRS 394.120, KRS 394.150, and KRS 394.240.

KRS 394.120 provides:

Nonresident—Will of valid, when.—The will of a person domiciled out of this state at the time of his death shall be valid as to his personal property and his real property in this state, if it is executed according to the law of the place where he was domiciled.

KRS 394.150 provides:

Nonresident, will of, how probated.—When a will of a nonresident has been proved out of the state, an authenticated copy and the certificate of probate may be offered for [694]*694probate in this state. When such copy is offered the court shall presume, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the will was duly executed and admitted to probate as a will in the state or country of the testator’s domicile, and shall admit the copy to probate as a will in this state. (Emphasis added.)

KRS 394.240 provides:

Actions in circuit court—Time in which to be brought—Filing notice of proceeding.— (1) Any person aggrieved by the action of the district court in admitting a will to record or rejecting it may bring an original action in the circuit court of the same county to contest the action of the district court. Such action shall be brought within two (2) years after the decision of the district court. The parties may, in the same action, or in a separate action if the validity of the will is not in issue, seek construction, interpretation or reformation of a will.

The testatrix, Mary Catherine Hendrix, after living most of her life in Kentucky and at an advanced age, was moved to Florida in 1988 by her daughter, Appellant Betty Jo Marr. Hendrix died in 1990, after residing in Florida for eighteen months. Her last will and testament, as well as a codicil thereto, were admitted to probate by a Florida court. Appellant was appointed executrix and proceeded to administer Hendrix’s estate in Florida in accordance with Florida laws. The Florida court approved a final settlement in August 1991. Apparently, and based on admissions during oral argument, the probate of the will in Florida only proved satisfaction of the formalities in executing a will in accordance with the requirements prescribed by the statute. These requirements relate to the writing, signing, witnessing, and attestation of the will.

At the time of her death in 1990, Hendrix owned real estate and personal property in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. In 1993, pursuant to KRS 394.150, Appellant filed a petition in the Muhlenberg District Court for ancillary administration of the Kentucky property of her mother’s estate. Because the requirements of KRS 394.150 had been satisfied, the district court ordered Hendrix’s will admitted to probate in Kentucky in May 1993. In June 1993, pursuant to KRS 394.240, Appellees, Hendrix’s heirs at law, filed this action in the Muhlenberg Circuit Court seeking to contest the validity of the Florida will on the grounds that Hendrix lacked the necessary testamentary capacity to execute a will or, alternatively, that the will resulted from Appellant’s undue influence. The circuit court ruled that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction and ordered the will contest action dismissed.

In dismissing this action, the trial court accepted the argument that KRS 394.120, KRS 394.150, and the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution effectively preclude a person’s contesting the validity of a nonresident decedent’s will, even in ancillary proceedings regarding the decedent’s property located in this state, where the -will was previously admitted to probate in the decedent’s domiciliary state. The Court of Appeals reversed the circuit court, holding that KRS 394.240 is not limited to wills of Kentucky residents.

KRS 394.120 and KRS 394.150 provide, in effect, that if the will of a nonresident of Kentucky is executed in accordance with the laws of the decedent’s domicile, it is valid as to real and personal property located in this state, and it may also be admitted to probate in Kentucky if certain other requirements are satisfied. However, these statutes are concerned only with the execution of the foreign will in accordance with the laws of the testator’s domicile; they contain no language purporting to address the underlying validity of such a will.

There are two aspects to the validity of a will—formality of execution and testamentary integrity. The extent of the finding of validity in Florida related to execution, only. The Florida court did not address testamentary integrity. Consequently, testamentary integrity may be raised in Kentucky pertaining to real estate located therein. Notwithstanding the language in KRS 394.120 pertaining to the validity of a nonresident’s will, KRS 394.150 also contemplates that evidence may be admitted in ancillary proceedings in Kentucky.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
952 S.W.2d 693, 1997 Ky. LEXIS 116, 1997 WL 613460, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marr-v-hendrix-ky-1997.