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Tyler v. Huggins

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District
Jun 2, 1965
175 So. 2d 239 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1965)

Summary

concluding that the order of the probate court setting aside and declaring void ab initio letters of administration and admitting claim against estate was interlocutory in nature and dismissing appeal

Summary of this case from N. Tr. Co. v. Abbott

Opinion

No. 5019.

April 28, 1965. Rehearing Denied June 2, 1965.

Appeal from the County Judge's Court for Brevard County, Virgil B. Conkling, J.

A.G. Pitts, of Maguire, Voorhis Wells, Orlando, for appellants.

Larry S. Stewart, of Frates, Fay Floyd, Miami, for appellees.


This is an appeal by William G. Tyler as personal representative of Ann H. Tyler, deceased, from an order of the county judge setting aside and declaring void ab initio letters of administration, cum testamento annexo, issued to William G. Tyler, and permitting the filing of a claim against said estate by Lawrence Huggins as personal representative of Donald Huggins, deceased.

Ann H. Tyler, a resident of Brevard County, died as a result of an automobile accident in which Donald Huggins, a minor, was also killed. William G. Tyler, a resident of Columbus, Georgia, was appointed administrator, and letters of administration were issued. No designation of resident agent was filed.

Letters of administration were later set aside upon the production of a will of the deceased, and the same William G. Tyler was appointed Administrator, Cum Testamento Annexo, of said estate. Again, there is no designation of resident agent.

Florida Statutes Annotated 732.47(2), F.S.A. provides in part:

"Before any nonresident of Florida shall be issued Letters upon any estate, such nonresident * * * shall designate some resident of said county as his agent or attorney for the service of process * * *."

The Statute is mandatory in that the Letters of Administration and the Letters of Administration, C.T.A., should not have been issued until the requirements of the statute had been complied with.

Every personal representative of an estate is required by § 733.15, F.S.A., to cause notice to creditors to be published after issuance of Letters Testamentary or Administration. The publication of Notice to Creditors prior to the issuance of valid Letters of Administration is a nullity, and the statute of non-claim does not begin to run until the publication of a notice after the issuance of valid Letters of Administration.

The statutes do not prevent a claim from being filed any time after the Petition for Letters is filed even though Letters have not been issued. The Order appealed from in this case is not a final Order and is not appealable. § 732.15, F.S.A.; Article V, §§ 4 and 5, Florida Constitution, F.S.A. The finality of an Order, such as the one we are concerned with here, depends upon the party aggrieved; that is, whether the Order appealed from finally determined the particular question as to such party. The Order on the filing of a claim, if adverse to the claimant, would have been a final determination of his rights and therefore would have been appealable. In Re Nolan's Estate, Fla.App. 1959, 114 So.2d 341. A claim filed as in this case can be objected to by the personal representative of the estate, and the issue thereafter settled as provided by the statutes.

Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed.

WHITE, Acting C.J., concurs.

FUSSELL, CARROLL W., Associate Judge, concurs specially.


I concur only on dismissal of the appeal for the sole reason that the order appealed from is not a final order.


Summaries of

Tyler v. Huggins

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District
Jun 2, 1965
175 So. 2d 239 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1965)

concluding that the order of the probate court setting aside and declaring void ab initio letters of administration and admitting claim against estate was interlocutory in nature and dismissing appeal

Summary of this case from N. Tr. Co. v. Abbott

In Tyler v. Huggins, 175 So.2d 239 (Fla. 2d DCA 1965), for example, the court was governed by now-repealed law, section 733.15, Florida Statutes (1973), which provided that “[e]very personal representative, after taking out letters testamentary or of administration, shall cause a notice to be published...” (emphasis added).

Summary of this case from Richard v. Richard

disallowing appeal from an "order . . . setting aside and declaring void ab initio letters of administration"

Summary of this case from Bennett's Leasing v. 1st St. Mortg

In Tyler attempted letters of administration were held void ab initio because the nonresident administrator had twice failed to designate a resident agent as expressly required by statute.

Summary of this case from In re Estate of Bierman
Case details for

Tyler v. Huggins

Case Details

Full title:WILLIAM G. TYLER, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF ANN H…

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District

Date published: Jun 2, 1965

Citations

175 So. 2d 239 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1965)

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