Olson v. Nugent

166 P.3d 161, 2007 Colo. App. LEXIS 604
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 5, 2007
DocketNo. 05CA2319
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 166 P.3d 161 (Olson v. Nugent) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Olson v. Nugent, 166 P.3d 161, 2007 Colo. App. LEXIS 604 (Colo. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge ROMAN.

In this probate proceeding, petitioners, Nancy Olson and Joyce Hill, appeal the district court order denying their petition to vacate an order of intestacy requested by the personal representative, Alice Nugent, in favor of the heirs, Laurel Evarts, David Evarts, and Eileen Fayle. Eileen Fayle, an heir and the mother of petitioners, does not participate in this appeal. We vacate the order and remand for further proceedings.

In January 2004, E. Keith Evarts died, and his guardian, Nugent, filed a petition to be formally appointed as his personal representative and to probate his estate through intestacy. Nugent attached to the petition a copy of a typed document signed by decedent in 1983 purporting to be his will. However, the document was not the original document and was not properly witnessed, and the notary seal was illegible. In the petition, Nugent stated that she "had no knowledge or information as to the location or existence of the original Will, nor if it is a valid and unrevoked Will" and, therefore, requested that the court (1) find that decedent left no will and (2) determine the heirs of his estate.

Section 15-10-401, C.R.S.2006, requires notice be given to any interested person if a hearing on any petition is required. Although Nugent was petitioning the court to determine intestacy, she attached a copy of the 1988 Will for the court to determine its validity, and, if the court determined the will was invalid, to order the estate to be distributed through intestacy proceedings.

Nugent provided notice of the hearing on the intestacy petition to decedent's siblings, Laurel Evarts, David Evarts, and Efleen Fayle, as well as decedent's nieces, Nancy Olson and Joyce Hill, who were the sole potential devisees under the 1983 Will. However, Nugent used an old address for Olson. Nugent sent another notice to Olson at an updated address, but the second address contained transposed numbers.

For purposes of this appeal only, the parties have assumed that Olson did not receive notice of the intestacy hearing. However, it is undisputed that Hill received notice of the [163]*163hearing and did not attempt to prove the validity of the 1988 Will.

On March 19, 2004, the court entered an order formally appointing Nugent as the personal representative to serve in supervised administration and finding that (1) any required notices had been given or waived; (2) decedent did not leave a will; and (8) the heirs of decedent are his siblings.

On August 2, 2005, the nieces filed a petition to vacate the order of intestacy, alleging that Olson never received notice of the petition of intestacy and that she was entitled to actual notice as a potential residuary devisee under the 1983 Will. The court held a hearing on the sole issue of whether the nisces' petition was time barred. At the hearing, the personal representative and heirs specifically reserved their right to present evidence that Olson received actual notice, in case the court determined Olson was entitled to notice. After the hearing, the court denied the petition as time barred.

In its subsequent order denying the nieces' C.R.CP. 59 motion, the court specifically found that Olson "is not an interested party and that she was not entitled to notice." The court also found that the nieces were not entitled to equitable tolling of the statute of limitations because their "remedy was at law and they failed to exercise those rights within the time prescribed by law." The court further found that to allow the nieces to "proceed on an equitable basis would render the statute of limitations meaningless." This appeal followed.

This appeal concerns interpretation of the statutory notice requirements. Statutory interpretation is a question of law we review de novo. Klinger v. Adams County Sch. Dist. No. 50, 130 P.3d 1027, 1031 (Colo.2006). When we interpret a statute, our task is to give effect to the legislature's intent. Colo. Office of Consumer Counsel v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 42 P.3d 23, 27 (Colo.2002). We look first to the language of the statute, giving words and phrases their plain and ordinary meaning, and we interpret the statute in a way that best effectuates the purpose of the legislative scheme. In re Estate of Wiltfong, 148 P.3d 465, 468 (Colo.App.2006).

I.

The nieces contend that, because Olson did not receive actual notice of the intestacy proceeding, the district court erred by determining that their petition to vacate the intestacy order was time barred. We remand for further proceedings to resolve this issue.

If notice of a hearing on any petition is required, the petitioner shall cause notice of the time and place of the hearing to be given to any interested person, the interested person's attorney of record, or the interested person's designee. Section 15-10-401.

"Interested person" includes heirs, devi-sees, children, spouses, creditors, beneficiaries, and any others having a property right in or claim against ... the estate of a decedent ... which may be affected by the proceeding. -It also includes persons having priority for an appointment as a personal representative and other fiduciaries representing the interested person. The meaning as it relates to particular persons may vary from time to time and shall be determined according to the particular purposes of, and matter involved in, any proceeding.

Section 15-10-201(27), C.R.9$.2006 (emphasis added).

A formal testacy order, including an order finding that the decedent left no valid will and determining the decedent's heirs, is final as to all persons with respect to all issues concerning the decedent's estate that the court considered or might have considered incident to its rendition relevant to the question of whether the decedent left a valid will, and to the determination of heirs. Section 15-12-412(1), C.R.8.2006.

However, the court shall entertain a petition for modification or vacation of its order and probate of another will of the decedent if it is shown that the proponents of the later-offered will were unaware of the earlier proceeding and were given no notice thereof, except by publication. Section 15-12-412(1)(a), C.R.S.2006.

[164]*164A petition for vacating a formal testacy order must be filed within twelve months after the entry of the order sought to be vacated. Section 15-12-412(1)(c)(III), C.R.S. 2006.

Here, the order of intestacy was entered on March 19, 2004, and the nieces filed their motion to vacate almost seventeen months later on August 2, 2005. Nevertheless, the nieces argue that the statute of limitations should have been tolled because Olson did not receive notice required for devisees under the 1983 Will.

We agree that Olson was entitled to notice of the intestacy hearing, and on remand the trial court shall conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Olson received such notice. However, because it is undisputed that Hill received notice pursuant to § 15-10-401, she is time barred under § 15 12-412(1)(c)(III) from challenging the intestacy order and cannot participate in Olson's petition to vacate the intestacy order.

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Related

In Re Estate of Evarts
166 P.3d 161 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 P.3d 161, 2007 Colo. App. LEXIS 604, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/olson-v-nugent-coloctapp-2007.