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Helena Regional Medical Center v. Wilson4/28/2005
On February 27, 1997, Appellee Trina Wilson filed a petition in the Probate Court of Phillips County seeking appointment as the administratix for the estate of her deceased daughter, Angela Nolen. The probate judge signed an order granting the petition on March 13, 1998. Thereafter, on January 8, 1999, Wilson filed a lawsuit in her capacity as administratix of the estate of Angela Nolen, deceased, against Appellants Helena Regional Medical Center and Dr. Enrique Guillermo, asserting claims of medical malpractice in the treatment of Angela Nolen. The parties in that lawsuit subsequently discovered that the order appointing Wilson administratix of the estate was not filed with the Phillips County Clerk until March 11, 2002. Likewise, Letters of Administration were not issued until March 11, 2002, which was more than three years after Wilson filed the medical malpractice action against the appellants.
Two months later, in an order filed on May 10, 2002, the probate division of the circuit court ruled that "the docket book and records of the Probate Clerk's office shall reflect that the Order appointing Trina Wilson as Administratix of the Estate of Angela Nolen, deceased, on March 11, 2002 shall reflect that filing as of March 13, 1998, nunc pro tunc." In doing so, the court concluded that through a "simple mistake or inadvertence" on the part of the clerk's office, the order was not file-marked as of March 13, 1998. Meanwhile, Appellants Helena Regional and Dr. Guillermo maintained that Wilson was not legally competent to serve as administratix according to the Arkansas Probate Code, Ark. Code Ann. § 28-48-101 (Repl. 2004), because she had previously admitted to a felony conviction. In an effort to challenge the propriety and timing of any orders relating to Wilson's appointment as administratix of the Angela Nolen estate, the appellants filed separate motions to intervene in the probate case. They also filed motions to vacate the order appointing Wilson as administratix of the estate of Angela Nolen, deceased, or in the alternative, to vacate or modify the circuit court's May 10 nunc pro tunc order.
The circuit court held a hearing on the outstanding motions on July 11, 2003. After hearing testimony, the court found that the appellants were not interested parties as defined by the Arkansas Probate Code, Ark. Code Ann. § 28-1-102(11) (Repl. 2004), and therefore lacked standing to question the issuance of the court's order. Additionally, because the court had denied the appellants' motions to intervene, the motions to vacate or modify were declared moot and dismissed. Subsequent motions for reconsideration filed by the appellants were also denied. From the order denying the motions for reconsideration, the appellants now bring the instant appeal. On cross appeal, Wilson seeks to dismiss the appeal for lack of a timely notice of appeal, citing Ark. R. Civ. P. 52(b) (2004).
This case was certified to us by the Arkansas Court of Appeals pursuant to Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 1-2(b)(1), (5) and (6) as a case involving issues of first impression, issues needing clarification under the law, and substantial questions of law concerning the interpretation of the court rules and Arkansas statutes. We review probate matters de novo on appeal. Reynolds v. Guardianship of Sears, 327 Ark. 770, 940 S.W.2d 483 (1997). Furthermore, this court will not disturb the probate judge's decision absent an abuse of discretion or a finding that the judge's decision is clearly erroneous. Id.
We must first address the cross appeal in which Wilson argues that the appellants filed an untimely notice of appeal. Without a timely notice of appeal, this court does not have jurisdiction. Dodge v. Lee, 350 Ar
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Arkansas Personal Injury Attorneys
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