Murphey v. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach, Inc.

630 So. 2d 591, 1993 Fla. App. LEXIS 10324, 1993 WL 406652
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedOctober 13, 1993
DocketNo. 93-1401
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 630 So. 2d 591 (Murphey v. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murphey v. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach, Inc., 630 So. 2d 591, 1993 Fla. App. LEXIS 10324, 1993 WL 406652 (Fla. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

POLEN, Judge.

This is a petition for writ of prohibition and/or certiorari in which the petitioner Margaret Murphey, ward of a guardianship, seeks relief from two Palm Beach Circuit Court probate orders. The first order petitioner challenges is dated April 6, 1993. It provided that her private counsel, Attorney Hubert Shenkin, was not authorized to prosecute an appeal of an earlier trial court order, was not authorized to be paid by the guardianship of the ward for the appeal, and was not authorized to retain separate counsel for the appeal. The second order, dated April 8,1993, authorized the guardian to take certain depositions of witnesses pending an appeal in this court.

That pending appeal was in this court’s case No. 93-0644, in which the ward appealed a trial court order authorizing the guardian to file a lawsuit on her behalf to rescind a deed. That appeal also included a challenge to an order in which the trial court denied rehearing of the first order. This court has dismissed the appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction by order dated May 6, 1993. We deny prohibition as to both orders which are the subject of this petition, and deny certiorari as to the April 8, 1993, order. We grant certiorari and quash the order of April 6, 1993.

Petitioner Margaret Murphey is ward of a guardianship before the Palm Beach Circuit Probate Court. Her sole living heir is her 85 year old brother, Dr. S. Alton Dallgaard. In July of 1991, Margaret deeded to herself a life estate in her house, and conveyed the remainder to a Mr. Louis Adinolfi and heirs. He was her long-time friend. In May of 1992, a guardianship proceeding commenced involving the person and property of Margaret as ward. Attorney Hubert Shenkin was appointed on May 18, 1992, to represent her. He was the same attorney who had drafted the deed and a will for Margaret. The respondent here, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach, Inc. (Catholic Charities), was appointed temporary guardian of the petitioner/ward’s person and property. Peti[593]*593tioner was declared to be incapacitated due to senile dementia on June 29, 1992. Catholic Charities was appointed permanent guardian.

According to petitioner, Catholic Charities filed an objection to proceedings to determine the remainder interest in the Murphey property in Louis Adinolfi’s estate action, in which it challenged the validity of Margaret’s deed. Margaret’s court-appointed attorney Shenkin objected to this in the Murphey guardianship proceeding, and requested that the probate court appoint a monitor to determine whether it was in the best interest of ward Margaret to proceed with litigation to rescind the deed. Petitioner claims that the probate court denied this motion to appoint court monitor. We have no record of an appeal or petition challenging this order.

Next, the guardian filed a petition for authorization to file an action to rescind the deed in the guardianship case. The petition was based on claims of undue influence by Adinolfi, and incompetence of the ward Margaret. Attorney Shenkin opposed the petition, filing a brief in opposition. In it, he argued that it was not in Margaret’s best interests to rescind the deed, that a potential conflict of interest existed in the guardian’s prosecution of the rescission petition, and other grounds. On or about January 29, 1993, the court entered an order allowing the petition to rescind to proceed and followed it with an order of February 24, 1993, denying rehearing. Those orders were the subject of the prior appeal to this court, which has been dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

The guardian next moved for “instructions,” challenging Attorney Shenkin’s right to appeal and to retain appellate co-counsel. The trial court entered the subject April 6, 1993, order on petition for instructions, in which it ruled that Mr. Shenkin was not authorized to prosecute an appeal of the January 29, 1993, order on behalf of the ward Margaret, was not authorized to be paid by the guardianship for the appeal, and was not authorized to retain appellate co-counsel. The court then vacated its earlier May 18, 1992, order appointing Mr. Shenkin as counsel for Margaret. The order provided: “Her appointed guardian is responsible for the representation of her best interests.”

Just two days later, the court entered its April 8, 1993, order granting the motion by Catholic Charities to perpetuate testimony pending the appeal to this court of the January 29,1993 order. Both of these orders are the subject of this petition.

In our view, prohibition does not lie in this case because the probate judge was not divested of jurisdiction to enter the April 1993 orders, or any other future orders. The January 29, 1993, order, and the order denying rehearing from it, were not appealable and therefore did not remove the court’s jurisdiction. We deny prohibition as to both orders.

Certiorari lies from the April 6, 1993, order, since it is a nonfinal order involving matters for which there may be no adequate remedy on plenary appeal. The orders removing counsel could be compared to orders disqualifying counsel, over which Florida courts do exercise certiorari review. See, e.g., Miller v. Reinhart, 497 So.2d 1332 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986).

Before we address the April 6, 1993, order further, we will briefly dispose of the second, April 8, 1993, order. That one does not satisfy the requirement for certiorari review that it pose irreparable harm not capable of remedy on plenary appeal. The order simply allows certain witnesses to be deposed pending an appeal in this court, which happens to have been dismissed. Petitioner has not demonstrated irreparable harm or the lack of an adequate remedy on appeal. We deny the petition for certiorari as to this order.

Returning to the April 6 order, petitioner’s argument is that the order denies her right to counsel in the proceedings in the trial court. Petitioner claims that the trial court’s order violates section 744.3216, Florida Statutes (1991), which provides in part:

(1) A person who has been determined incapacitated retains the right:
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(k) To have access to the courts.
(Z) To counsel.

[594]*594However, petitioner fails to acknowledge that this same statute provides that a party declared incapacitated may have removed from him or her the right to sue and defend lawsuits.

Section 744.3215, Florida Statutes (1991), provides in subsection (3):

(3) Rights that may be removed from a person by an order determining incapacity and which may be delegated to the guardian include the right:
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(b) To sue and defend lawsuits.

The question then becomes whether, and under what circumstances, the court can remove a ward’s court-approved counsel and delegate the right to representation to the guardian. In this case, the question is whether the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law when it effectively removed Attorney Shenkin and his associates or retained co-counsel from representation of the petitioner ward in her appeal and vacated his prior appointment as counsel for her in the guardianship proceedings.

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Bluebook (online)
630 So. 2d 591, 1993 Fla. App. LEXIS 10324, 1993 WL 406652, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murphey-v-catholic-charities-of-the-diocese-of-palm-beach-inc-fladistctapp-1993.