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Beyer v. Morgan State University8/29/2001
. The notice must be given to all interested persons, which includes a "legatee in being, not fully paid, whether his interest is vested or contingent," ET § 1-101(i)(3), and "shall state the amount requested . . . shall also state that a request for a hearing may be made within 20 days after the notice is sent." ET § 7-502(a); Md. Rule 6-416(c).
ET § 7-502(b) also contains language addressing the finality of an order allowing payment of a fee to the personal representative or attorney for the estate. This language is the focal point of the appellant's argument. The language states: "Unless there was fraud, material mistake, or substantial irregularity in the proceeding, or a request for a hearing is filed within 20 days of the sending of the notice, any action taken by the court on the petition is final and binding on all persons to whom the notice was given." Md. Rule 6-416(f) also addresses the finality of such an order. It states: "If timely exceptions are not filed, the order of the court allowing the attorney's fees or personal representative's commissions becomes final." The rule requires that a hearing be held if timely exceptions have been filed.
Appeals from the orphans' court to the circuit court are permitted by CJ § 12-502. They are de novo, which means that they are entirely new proceedings. CJ § 12-502(a)(1)(ii), (iii); Lowenthal v. Rome, 45 Md. App. 495 (1980), aff'd, 290 Md. 33 (1981). In such an appeal, " he circuit court shall give judgment according to the equity of the matter." CJ § 12-502(a)(1)(iv).
Under CJ § 12-502(a)(1)(i), for an appeal to lie, the order of the orphans' court must constitute a final judgment. See Grimberg v. Marth, 338 Md. 546, 551 (1995) (citing CJ § 12-501). The converse proposition is not stated but is implicit: an appeal may not be taken to the circuit court from an order of the orphans' court that does not constitute a final judgment. Carrick v. Henley, 44 Md. App. 124, 127-28 (1979). "A judgment generally is considered `final' if it determines and concludes the rights involved, or denies the appellant the means of further prosecuting rights and interests in the subject matter of the proceeding." Hegmon v. Novak, 130 Md. App. 703, 707 (2000); see also CJ § 12-101(f) (defining "final judgment" to mean "a judgment, decree, sentence, order, determination, decision, or other action by a court, including an orphans' court, from which an appeal, application for leave to appeal, or petition for certiorari may be taken").
As we have stated, the gravamen of the appellant's jurisdictional argument is that her failure to properly notify MSU of her petitions for payment of attorney's fees and expenses, under ET § 7-502(a) and Md. Rule 6-416, had the effect of making the orphans' court's orders granting those petitions non-final, and thus not appealable. We first shall address that contention with respect to appellant's Attorney's Fee Petition; in doing so, we shall assume for the sake of argument that that petition was not served on MSU as required by ET § 7-502(a) and Md. Rule 6-416(c), and that MSU did not learn of it until the September 29, 1998 hearing.
We apply the principles of statutory construction to enactments and court rules. Cooper v. Sacco, 357 Md. 622, 629 (2000). "Every quest to discover and give effect to the objectives of the legislature begins with the text of the statute" or rule. Huffman v. State, 356 Md. 622, 628 (1999) (citing In re Victor B., 336 Md. 85, 94 (1994)). If the legislature's intentions are evident from the text of the statute, our inquiry normally will end and the plain meaning of the enactment will govern. See id. (citing State v. Montgomery, 334 Md. 20, 24 (1994)). When analyzing a
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