Schneider v. Schneider

371 So. 2d 1380
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 29, 1979
DocketNo. 12708
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 371 So. 2d 1380 (Schneider v. Schneider) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schneider v. Schneider, 371 So. 2d 1380 (La. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

CHIASSON, Judge.

Matthew P. Schneider, Jr., the decedent, died intestate on December 5, 1977, survived by his widow, Gardner Morrow Schneider and three major children, Dorothy Gardner Schneider Marshall, Matthew Peter Schneider, III, and Christopher Morrow Schneider.

On January 27, 1978, the widow, Gardner Morrow Schneider, was appointed provisional administratrix. Her petition alleged that the necessity of such appointment was to assure the continued successful operation of closely held corporations in which the decedent owned a substantial interest and to protect the interests of the succession therein. Mrs. Schneider’s letters of administration were issued the same day upon her filing the oath of office and furnishing security. The three children of the decedent signed as sureties on their mother’s bond. Mrs. Schneider proceeded to compile a detailed descriptive list of the assets of the succession, to administer the succession and to continue to operate the business.

The provisional administratrix, Mrs. Schneider, did not file a petition for notice of application for appointment as administrator provided for by La.CCP art. 3091.

On December 8, 1978, Matthew Peter Schneider, III filed a petition to be appointed permanent administrator of the succession. He alleged in his petition the need to continue the operation of the business and to protect the succession interests therein. [1382]*1382He attached to his petition a certificate by the clerk of court that no request for notice of application for appointment as administrator had been filed. He was appointed permanent administrator by ex parte order on December 8, 1978. His letters of administration were issued the same day upon his compliance with the law.

Gardner Morrow Schneider on December 11, 1978, filed a petition to nullify the appointment of the permanent administrator and for a temporary restraining order. The temporary restraining order was issued but was dissolved on December 13, 1978. A hearing was set for January 8, 1979 on the preliminary injunction. On December 27, 1978, Mrs. Schneider was granted a stay of proceedings in order to file supervisory writs with this court. Mrs. Schneider’s writ sought to vacate the judgment of the lower court which appointed Matthew Peter Schneider, III the permanent administrator of his father’s succession. On January 17, 1979, this court issued the following order:

“Writs refused. While we have grave doubts as to the ex parte appointment of an administrator when the applicant has full knowledge of the existence of a provisional administrator, we deem it wise at this juncture to deny the writ so that this matter can proceed to an immediate hearing on Relatrix’s petition to have ex parte order rescinded and set aside.”

The lower court, subsequent to our order, set a hearing date of February 12, 1979. Mrs. Schneider obtained an appeal on February 6, 1979. The last day for appealing the December 8,1978 order was February 6, 1979. On February 21, 1979, this court granted an expedited appeal and fixed the case for oral argument on April 4,1979, and set the dates for filing of briefs.

On March 5, 1979, appellee, Matthew P. Schneider, III filed a motion to reassign the oral argument to a later date and a motion to dismiss. On March 8, 1979, this court denied the motion to reassign oral «argument and issued a show cause order on the motion to dismiss, referring the motion to the merits.

There are two issues on appeal. Ap-pellee, Matthew P. Schneider, III, made a motion to dismiss the appeal on the basis that the ex parte order appointing him as permanent administrator was an interlocutory judgment that did not cause irreparable injury and therefore was not appealable.

Under the General Rules of Procedure, which is Chap. 6 of Title I of Book VI, Probate Procedure of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Article 2974, it provides:

“Appeals from orders or judgments rendered in succession proceedings shall be governed by the rules applicable to appeals in ordinary proceedings, except that an order or judgment confirming, appointing, or removing a succession representative, or granting an interim allowance under Article 3321 shall be executed provisionally, notwithstanding appeal. “The acts of a succession representative shall not be invalidated by the annulment of his appointment on appeal.”

La.CCP art. 2122 in Book III, Appellate Procedure, is a sister provision to La.CCP art. 2974, and it provides:

“A judgment or order of a trial court appointing or removing a legal representative shall be executed provisionally notwithstanding an appeal therefrom.
“A judgment rendered on appeal vacating a judgment or order of the trial court appointing a legal representative does not invalidate any of his official acts performed prior to the rendition of the judgment of the appellate court.”

It is apparent that both of these provisions contemplate an appeal from an order of the trial court appointing a succession representative. We find that the judgment of the trial court in the instant case is an appealable judgment.

For the reasons given above, appellee’s motion to dismiss is denied.

The second issue is whether a provisional administrator, appointed for the purpose of continuing a business of the deceased, is entitled to notice of an application for appointment of a permanent administrator.

[1383]*1383The succession procedure in Louisiana was revised in 1960 when the Legislature adopted the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP). We will examine the intent of these revisions in our discussion of this issue.

La.CCP art. 3111 provides:

“The court may appoint a provisional administrator of a succession, pending the appointment of an administrator or the confirmation of an executor, when it deems such appointment necessary to preserve, safeguard, and operate the property of the succession. On the application of an interested party, or on its own motion, when such an appointment is deemed necessary, the court may appoint a qualified person as provisional administrator forthwith.”

This provision incorporated the jurispru-dentially created rule that a court had the discretion to appoint a provisional administrator when it was necessary to continue the operation of an ongoing business enterprise which was part of the estate. See Succession of Coco, 184 La. 144, 165 So. 646 (1935); and Louisiana Civil Law Treatise, Vol. 10, Successions and Donations, Oppen-heim, § 225, pg. 334 (1973).

The courts, prior to the adoption of La. CCP, had wrestled with the problem of how to preserve the assets of a succession when they are in the form of an ongoing business. Obviously, without someone to manage and continue a business, the enterprise could be lost and thus a loss to the succession. In order to insure that the assets of the succession would be protected, while legal proceedings involving the succession were completed or until heirs could be put into possession or the will probated, etc., some method had to be provided to preserve, safeguard and operate the property of the succession while other proceedings took place. The appointment of a provisional administrator was the answer.

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Related

In re the Tutorship of Watts
681 So. 2d 74 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1996)
Succession of Revere
393 So. 2d 153 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1980)

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Bluebook (online)
371 So. 2d 1380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schneider-v-schneider-lactapp-1979.