IN RE ESTATE OF KATE B. MCCLELLAN, DECEASED
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The administrator of an estate appealed from an order extending the time for a claimant to file suit on a disallowed claim. The court dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, holding that orders extending time to file suit in probate proceedings are interlocutory and not immediately appealable.
The court held that an order extending time to file suit against an estate is interlocutory and not immediately appealable. Only final orders or decrees in probate matters are subject to appellate review under the Florida Constitution. The administrator may raise any objections to the extension order in an appeal from a subsequent final order, such as an order requiring payment of a judgment obtained on the claim.
“With respect to matters of probate, the Constitution restricts the jurisdiction of this court to appellate review of final orders or decrees entered by county judge's courts.”
Establishes the constitutional limit on appellate jurisdiction in probate matters.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKate B. McClellan's estate administrator appealed from a county judge's order that extended the time period within which M. Frank McClellan could file…
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The administrator of Kate B. McClellan’s estate has appealed from an order of the county judge extending the time within which M. Frank McClellan is permitted to institute an appropriate suit, action or proceeding against the estate upon a claim filed by him therein, but duly objected to by the administrator. Appellant contends that appellee’s motion to extend the time for filing suit fails to show good cause as required by the statute1, and that the county judge abused his discretion in entering the order appealed.2
With respect to matters of probate, the Constitution restricts the jurisdiction of this court to appellate review of final orders or decrees entered by county judge’s courts.3 It is clear that appeals may not be taken to this court from interlocutory *502orders entered by county judge’s courts in probate proceedings. The party aggrieved from such class of order must therefore await the entry of a final order or decree before seeking review of an allegedly erroneous interlocutory order entered in the course of the proceeding.
An order extending the time within which a claimant may file suit against an estate on a claim duly objected to by the administrator is not a final order or decree immediately reviewable by appeal. The identical question here presented was considered and passed upon by the Third District Court of Appeal in Nolan’s Estate.4 In a well-reasoned opinion written by Judge Pearson it was pointed out that many different types of orders and decrees are entered in the course of a proceeding involving the probate of an estate. While from their very nature some of such orders and decrees are final in character and immediately appealable, many of them are not. That opinion characterizes an order extending the time for filing suit against an estate as being permissive only. Suit on such disallowed claim, although permitted, may never be instituted. If suit is commenced, it may result in a judgment favoring the estate. In either of these events an appeal from the order of extension will be obviated. If, however, such suit results in a judgment in favor of the claimant, the estate cannot be prejudiced thereby until claim on such judgment has been filed in the estate and an order entered thereon directing payment thereof by the personal representative.5 An order requiring payment of such judgment would be final in nature and appealable directly to this court. On such appeal the administrator is then privileged to question the correctness of the county judge’s initial order extending the time within which suit could be instituted on the claim. This was the conclusion reached by the court in Nolan’s Estate, and is the only conclusion consistent with a logical interpretation of the jurisdictional limitations placed upon the power of this court by the Constitution.
For the foregoing reasons we conclude that this court is without jurisdiction at this stage of the proceeding to review the order appealed. The appeal is accordingly dismissed.-
STURGIS and CARROLL, DONALD, JJ., concur.
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Smoak v. Graham, 167 So. 2d 559 (Fla. 1964)…nder F.S. Section 733.18, F.S.A.2 The writ has been issued for alleged conflict3 between the decision on the first point and the rulings in Estate of Nolan, Fla.App., Third District, 114 So. 2d 341, and Estate of McClellan, Fla.App., First District, 124 So. 2d 501, that an order is not final for appeal purposes when it permits extension of time under the above statute for suit on a claim to which objections have been filed in probate. The decisions in Nolan and McClellan rest upon the premises that the judici…
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Sutton v. Stear, 264 So. 2d 838 (Fla. 1972)…xercising discretion, we dispensed with oral argument pursuant to F.A.R. 3.10, subd. e, 32 F.S.A. The First District was willing to recognize this Court’s Smoak in receding from its holding as to jurisdiction to review in In re Estate of McClellan, 124 So. 2d 501 (Fla.App. 1st 1960), without persisting in its same earlier view once Smoak appeared to the contrary. It held in its later case of Sessions v. Jelks, 194 So. 2d 307 (Fla.App. 1st 1967), in accordance with Smoak when the question next arose. Our Cou…
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In re Est. of Claude G. Meigs v. Lear, 191 So. 2d 289 (Fla. 1st DCA 1966)…PER CURIAM. Appeal dismissed on the authority of In Re Estate of McClellan, 124 So. 2d 501 [*290] (Fla.App.1960). See also In Re Estate of Meigs, 177 So. 2d 246 (Fla.App. 1965), and Lear v. Meigs, 188 So. 2d 349 (Fla.App. 1966). RAWLS, C. J., and CARROLL, DONALD K. and JOHNSON, JJ., concur.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Beulah M. Ellard v. Godwin, 77 So. 2d 617 (Fla. 1955)
- In re Est. of Thomas DeWitt Nolan v. City OF N. Miami, 114 So. 2d 341 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959)