Succession of McCall v. McCall

550 So. 2d 328, 1989 La. App. LEXIS 1690, 1989 WL 116150
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 4, 1989
DocketNo. 88-570
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 550 So. 2d 328 (Succession of McCall v. McCall) 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
Succession of McCall v. McCall, 550 So. 2d 328, 1989 La. App. LEXIS 1690, 1989 WL 116150 (La. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

FORET, Judge.

Orna McCall Miller, Emma McCall Arcen-eaux, Charles Michael McCall, Dale Allen McCall, Mary Diane Armand, and Claude Vernon McCall, Jr., appellants herein, appealed from a judgment in favor of Norman F. McCall- wherein the trial court awarded Norman McCall reimbursement for taxes paid on behalf of appellants. The judgment appealed from was rendered pursuant to a rule to show cause on a motion for an order requiring payment of taxes filed by Norman McCall. The instant rule to show cause arose in the Succession of Gladys M. McCall, and all parties herein are legatees and heirs in this succession.

Appellants herein also appeal the denial of their declinatory exceptions of insufficiency of citation, insufficiency of service of process, lack of personal jurisdiction and lis pendens, dilatory exceptions of prematurity, lack of procedural capacity, and unauthorized use of summary proceedings, and peremptory exceptions of no right and cause of action. Appellants also appeal the denial of their motion to dismiss.

After a thorough review of the trial record and appellate briefs, we find no reversible error in law or fact and affirm the judgments rendered by the trial court.

FACTS

Gladys McCall, mother of Norman, Henry, Emma, and Orna and grandmother of the remaining appellants, died testate on December 10, 1985. On April 30, 1986, pursuant to the joint petition for possession, Gladys McCall’s will was probated and the heirs and legatees accepted the succession simply and unconditionally without administration. All of the heirs signed the detailed descriptive list as well as the Louisiana Inheritance Tax Return, and a judgment of possession was rendered April 29, 1986.

Not included in either the descriptive list or in the Louisiana Inheritance Tax Return was $278,000 in cash which had been distributed to the heirs. It appears that the $278,000 was not included in the original succession proceedings due to the belief that this cash consisted of valid manual gifts made during the lifetime of the decedent to be distributed to the heirs after her death. Therefore, no taxes had been paid on this cash prior to the original judgment of possession.

One year after the original judgment of possession, on April 30, 1987, appellants obtained an ex parte order re-opening the succession of Gladys M. McCall. The petition to re-open the succession prayed that the succession be re-opened for the purpose of amending the detailed descriptive list and judgment of possession insofar as additional assets had allegedly been discovered which were not included in the original descriptive list. Appellants also asserted that they were entitled to an inventory by an impartial third party appointed by the court to establish the exact nature, location, and value of all assets of the decedent and requested the appointment of an independent notary public to perform the inventory. Finally, appellants alleged that, although Norman McCall had declined the appointment as the executor, he had administered the succession without court authority or supervision and should be required to give a final accounting of his conduct.

For several months after April 30, 1987, the parties attempted extensive discovery, although the record is unclear as to the scope and/or success of this discovery.

On June 10, 1987, Norman McCall filed a motion to rescind the ex parte order reopening the succession and additionally prayed for an order requiring appellants-legatees to sign the appropriate and necessary tax returns and each pay their share of taxes, interest, and penalties. After hearing on June 24, 1987, judgment was rendered rescinding the ex parte order reopening the succession of Gladys McCall and re-closing the succession. Although set for hearing, the issue of the heirs and legatees signing the tax returns and paying their share of the additional taxes due on the $278,000 cash, not included in the original judgment of possession, was not litigated at the June 24, 1987 hearing.

[331]*331Subsequently, on or about November 6, 1987, an amended detailed descriptive list and an amended petition for possession was filed by Norman McCall which included the $278,000 in cash which had been previously distributed. The amended petition for possession alleged that all taxes-had been paid and the appropriate receipts, cancelled checks, and tax returns were attached as exhibits. On November 18, 1987, an amended judgment of possession was rendered which sent the heirs into possession of the $278,000 in cash omitted from the original detailed descriptive list and judgment of possession.

No appeals or writs were taken from the original or amended judgment of possession or the June 24, 1987 order re-closing the succession of Gladys McCall.

On December 11, 1987, Norman McCall filed a second motion for an order requiring appellants herein to pay their proportionate share of taxes, interest, and penalties on the $278,000 cash which had not been included in the original detailed descriptive list. This matter was set for hearing on January 4, 1988, and subsequently re-fixed to be heard on February 10, 1988, pursuant to appellants’ motion to continue due to medical reasons.

On January 28, 1988, appellants filed dilatory exceptions of prematurity, lack of procedural capacity, and unauthorized use of summary proceedings. Additionally, they filed declinatory exceptions of lis pen-dens, lack of personal jurisdiction, insufficiency of citation, and insufficiency of service of process. Finally, appellants also filed peremptory exceptions of no right and no cause of action and a motion to dismiss.

On February 10, 1988, the trial court denied, without hearing, all of appellants’ exceptions filed herein. After trial on the merits, the trial court granted Norman McCall, appellee herein, the relief requested in two separate judgments. This appeal lies from those judgments.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

1.Did the trial court err in finding that appellants had waived the declinatory exceptions raised due to their general appearance in this matter?

2. Did the trial court err in not allowing a hearing on the exceptions and motion to dismiss filed by appellants?

3. Did the trial court err in allowing appellee, Norman McCall, to proceed against appellants on the motion for the payment of taxes by summary process?

4. Did the trial court err in holding appellants liable, proportionately, to appel-lee for taxes, interest, penalties, and expenses paid on behalf of the estate of Gladys M. McCall?

EXCEPTIONS AND MOTION TO DISMISS

Appellants’ first three assignments of error deal with the overruling of their exceptions and motion to dismiss in the trial court and will be discussed together.

The trial court, prior to hearing the rule on its merits, overruled all of appellants’ exceptions and the motion to dismiss, without hearing or argument. The basis for the court’s ruling was that the exceptions had been waived because the matter had been set for hearing at the earlier date of June 24,1987, wherein counsel for appellants appeared. Although the trial court did not pass on the issue of the payment of taxes at that time, appellants again appeared by requesting a motion for continuance to the second fixing of the motion scheduled January 4, 1988. At this time, the matter was re-fixed for February 10, 1988.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
550 So. 2d 328, 1989 La. App. LEXIS 1690, 1989 WL 116150, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/succession-of-mccall-v-mccall-lactapp-1989.