Shealer v. Straka

459 Md. 68

184 A.3d 391

Amy SHEALER

v.George STRAKA

No. 38, Sept. Term, 2017

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

April 26, 2018

Reconsideration Denied June 19, 2018

ARGUED BY Geoffrey Washington (Mary Rose E. Cook, Adelberg, Rudow, Dorf & Hendler, LLC of Balitmore, MD) on briefs, FOR PETITIONER.

ARGUED BY Matthew S. Ballard (Charles Bagley, IV and Alicia M. Balanesi, Bagley & Rhody, P.C. of Annapolis, MD) on brief, FOR RESPONDENT.

ARGUED BEFORE: Barbera, C.J. Greene, Adkins, McDonald, Watts, Hotten, Getty, JJ.

Getty, J.

The Bench, the Bar, and the general public should no longer tolerate the condition which 170 years of patchwork amendments have created out of the relatively simple Act of 1798. The Commission's basic job, therefore, has been to attempt to create reasonable order in the law of decedents' estates.... Most of the changes of substance are motivated by one salient thought—the handling of estates should be accomplished with efficiency, expedition, and as little red tape and expense as possible.

Honorable William L. Henderson,¹"Letter of Transmittal" of the Second Report of Governor's Commission to Review and Revise the Testamentary Law of Maryland , December 5, 1968

In this appeal, we must determine the proper procedure before an orphans' court in two scenarios: (1) when an interested party files a petition to caveat a will; and (2) when an interested party requests that the orphans' court transmit an issue to the circuit court for a trial by jury. In deciding the appropriate procedures, this Court will analyze whether the Maryland General Assembly intended to eliminate the need for an automatic stay after a party files a petition to caveat when it enacted Md. Code (1974, 2011 Repl. Vol.), Estates & Trusts ("ET") § 5–207. Specific to this appeal, we must determine if the Orphans' Court for Worcester County erred by proceeding with a judicial probate hearing after an interested party filed a petition to caveat and whether it erred by denying a request to transfer issues to a court of law. Moreover, this Court must decide whether any error by the Orphans' Court for Worcester County was harmless.

For the following reasons, we conclude that when it enacted ET § 5–207(b), the General Assembly intended to mandate a judicial probate hearing as the single, simple procedure after a party files a petition to caveat. As such, an automatic stay is not required when a petition to caveat a will is filed. We also hold that when an interested party in a caveat case makes a request to transfer undecided factual issues to a circuit court, the orphans' court is required to transmit the issues to a court of law pursuant to ET § 2–105(b). In this case, the Orphans' Court for Worcester County did not err in refusing to stay the judicial probate proceeding simply because a petition to caveat was filed; however, the orphans' court did err when it refused a party's request to transmit unresolved factual issues to a court of law. We conclude that this error was not harmless. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals and remand the matter back to the Orphans' Court for Worcester County.

BACKGROUND

On March 28, 2016, Andrea Ayers Straka ("the Decedent") died at the age of thirty-seven from pneumonia caused by Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Two days later, on March 30, 2016, the Decedent's father, George M. Straka ("Mr. Straka"), filed a petition for administrative probate of a regular estate with the Worcester County Register of Wills. In his petition, Mr. Straka affirmed that he made a diligent effort to search for a will prepared by the Decedent. Mr. Straka's petition also included a statement that no will existed to the best of his knowledge. In an attachment to the petition, Mr. Straka indicated that the Decedent's estate included approximately $300,000 in real property. After considering the petition, the Register of Wills of Worcester County issued an administrative probate order, appointing Mr. Straka as personal representative of the Decedent's estate.

The same afternoon that Mr. Straka filed a petition for administrative probate, a party² filed the Last Will and Testament of the Decedent ("the Decedent's Will") with the Worcester County Register of Wills. The Decedent's Will indicated that the document was prepared on July 15, 2015 in Berlin, Maryland. In addition, the Decedent's Will stated that the Decedent had never been married and had no biological children. In the Will, the Decedent appointed William Jay Mumma, Jr. ("Mr. Mumma"), the Decedent's best friend, and Amy Shealer ("Ms. Shealer") as personal representatives and executors of the Decedent's Will.³ The Decedent's Will bequeathed her real property, in addition to all of the personal property contained in the house, to Mr. Mumma, Ms. Shealer, and her godchildren: Ava and Abigail Simone.

The Decedent's Will also included a section of specific bequests, which directed that an investment account be sold, converted to cash value, and be distributed in the following manner: (1) $70,000 to Mr. Straka and $30,000 to Mr. Straka's two daughters, the Decedent's half-sisters; (2) $100,000 to her attorney; (3) $10,000 to her law firm to be donated to any charity of their choosing; (4) $10,000 to her friend, Robert Staph; (5) $10,000 to the charity The Delmarva Cat Connection to be donated in the Decedent's name; (6) $25,000 to her friends and financial advisors, Lora and Greg Gann; and (7) a division of the remaining balance: fifty percent to Mr. Mumma; thirty percent to Ms. Shealer; and, twenty percent to be used for fees and taxes. Any remainder of the Decedent's estate is distributed equally between Mr. Mumma and Ms. Shealer. The Decedent's Will also bears the signature of two witnesses, Mark Anthony Burdette and Alan W. Forsythe.

On April 5, 2016, Ms. Shealer filed a petition for administrative probate of a regular estate. Ms. Shealer's petition included an affirmation, stating that the Decedent's Will was found among her important papers and delivered to the Register of Wills for Worcester County. Ms. Shealer indicated that the only other proceedings regarding the Decedent's estate was the regular estate petition for administration filed by Mr. Straka. In her petition, Ms. Shealer requested that she be appointed personal representative of the Decedent's estate. In addition, Ms. Shealer included two specific requests under the petition's section for additional relief: (1) that the Decedent's Will be admitted to judicial probate; and (2) that the orphans' court conclude that the Decedent's Will was duly executed, the Decedent was legally competent to make the Will, and the Decedent's Will was properly attested to and executed by two witnesses. Ms. Shealer listed Mr. Straka, the Decedent's two half-sisters, and Mr. Mumma as interested persons.

In response to Ms. Shealer's petition, the Register of Wills for Worcester County appointed Ms. Shealer as personal representative of the Decedent's estate. Moreover, the Orphans' Court for Worcester County issued a notice of judicial probate, which indicated that Ms. Shealer had filed a petition for judicial probate of the Decedent's Will. The orphans' court also issued a notice of hearing, which notified the interested parties that the judicial probate hearing would be held on April 19, 2016. The court sent the two notices to Mr. Straka as an interested person. In addition, the Register of Wills for Worcester County also sent Mr. Straka a letter informing him that the Letters of Administration appointing Mr. Straka as personal representative of the Decedent's estate were revoked after the Decedent's Will was filed. The letter further informed Mr. Straka that he "will be the Special Administrator of the estate[,] which means you cannot act for the estate without the prior approval of the [o]rphans' [c]ourt." The letter reminded Mr. Straka that the judicial probate hearing would be held on April 19, 2016, at which time he would be able to address the orphans' court.

After receiving the notice and letter, Mr. Straka obtained counsel in preparation for the judicial probate hearing. Counsel for Mr. Straka filed his entry of appearance on April 15, 2016, four days before the scheduled hearing. Along with his entry of appearance, Mr. Straka's attorney filed a motion for postponement, asserting that the judicial probate hearing was no longer necessary because Mr. Straka intended to file a petition to caveat as well as a petition to transmit issues to the Circuit Court for Worcester County. Moreover, the motion alleged that counsel for Mr. Straka had a scheduling conflict with the April 19, 2016 hearing date.

Mr. Straka's attorney also filed a petition to caveat, which indicated that Mr. Straka believed the Decedent's Will to be invalid. Specifically, Mr. Straka alleged that the Decedent's Will should not be admitted to probate for several reasons: the Decedent lacked capacity to make the Will; the Decedent's Will was procured after undue influence; the Decedent's Will was not signed by the Decedent or any other person in her presence; the Decedent's Will was not properly executed or attested to in accordance with Maryland law; the Decedent's Will was not known by the Decedent before or at the time of execution; and the Decedent's Will was procured by fraud. The petition to caveat requested multiple prayers of relief, including a determination that the Decedent's Will is invalid with no legal effect and that the Decedent died intestate. Mr. Straka also requested that he, or a neutral third party, be appointed as personal representative of the Decedent's estate. However, the petition to caveat failed to provide a complete list of interested persons.

The April 19, 2016 judicial probate hearing was held before two orphans' court judges. Mr. Straka, Ms. Shealer, and Mr. Mumma all appeared at the hearing with counsel. The orphans' court first permitted the parties to make an opening statement. Counsel for Mr. Straka...