Case Title: Berry v. Berry

Citation: 463 So. 2d 1031

Docket Number: 

State: mississippi

Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Date: 1984-08-01T00:00:00Z

Document:
463 So. 2d 1031 (1984) Clarence Wilbert BERRY v. Almeadie BERRY, Shelby Jean Berry, Carl Erskine Berry and Pursue Energy Corporation. No. 54942. Supreme Court of Mississippi. August 1, 1984. Rehearing Denied February 27, 1985. Barry W. Gilmer, Charles I. Knauss, Jr., Gilmer & Jones, Jackson, for appellant. Alex A. Alston, Jr., Janice Holley Parsons, Thomas, Price, Alston, Jones & Davis, Jackson, for appellees. Jerry T. Johnston, Johnston & Younger, Brandon, for intervenor. Before ROY NOBLE LEE, P.J., and ROBERTSON and SULLIVAN, JJ. ROY NOBLE LEE, Presiding Justice, for the Court: Clarence Wilbert Berry filed suit October 14, 1982, in the Chancery Court, Rankin County, Mississippi, against Almeadie Berry, Shelby Jean Berry, Carl Erskine Berry and Pursue Energy Corporation, seeking an adjudication that he is the illegitimate son of Shelby Berry, and that he be allowed to share in the estate of Shelby Berry. From an order June 14, 1983, dismissing the bill of complaint, he appeals and assigns as error in the trial below, the following: The lower court erred in rendition of its final judgment wherein the appellant's claim was adjudged barred by the general six-year statute of limitations. *1032 Appellant was born June 18, 1934, in Rankin County, Mississippi. Shelby Berry died in 1958, leaving an estate consisting of one hundred sixty (160) acres of land. The appellees, except for Pursue Energy Corporation and Jerry T. Johnston, are heirs-at-law of the intestate Berry. During the twenty-five (25) years since the death of Shelby Berry, approximately eighty (80) persons claim they have acquired, and now own, oil, gas and mineral interests in the acreage. No action has been brought prior to this suit for the purpose of establishing appellant's heirship, or his claim against the estate of Shelby Berry. In dismissing the bill of complaint, the lower court held that appellant's claim is barred by the general six-year statute of limitations. That court apparently relied upon Knight v. Moore, 396 So. 2d 31 (Miss. 1981). Appellee argues that the application of the law in Estate of Kidd v. Kidd, 435 So. 2d 632 (Miss. 1983), to the effect that the six-year statute begins to run at the death of the putative father, properly should be applied here. Larsen v. Kimble, 447 So. 2d 1278 (Miss. 1984), disposes of the question now before the Court, and it is not necessary to discuss Knight v. Moore, supra; Estate of Miller v. Miller, 409 So. 2d 715 (Miss. 1982), Estate of Kidd v. Kidd, supra; Vance Witt, Successor-Administrator of the Estate of Mayes v. Mitchell, 437 So. 2d 63 (Miss. 1983). Mississippi Code Annotated Section 91-1-15 (1972), applying to illegitimates, was amended effective July 1, 1981. Pertinent part of the section which governs in this case follows: In Larsen, this Court said: Following Larsen v. Kimble, supra, as we are bound to do, in our opinion the chancellor erred in dismissing the complaint. The judgment of the lower court is reversed and the cause is remanded for a trial on the merits. REVERSED AND REMANDED. WALKER, P.J., and BOWLING, HAWKINS, DAN M. LEE, PRATHER, ROBERTSON and SULLIVAN, JJ., concur. PATTERSON, C.J., not participating. [1] Amendment to Section 91-1-15 effective March 14, 1983.