# C o u rt o f

A p p ea ls

o f t h e S t a te o f

G eo rg ia

ATLANTA,_

_ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _

Th e Co u rt

o f Ap p ea l s h er eb y p a s s es t h e f

o ll owi n g o r der :

A2 4 A1 39 6

. A LAN KUGLAR AS EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF BLANCA
ROHR v . FI RST-CI TI Z ENS BANK & TRUST COMPANY.
A 2 4 A 1 3 9 7

. FI RST-CI TI Z ENS BANK & TRUST C OMPANY v

. ALAN
KUGLAR AS EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF BLANCA ROHR.

I n this c iv il ac tio n, p laintif f F i r s t

- Citiz ens B ank & Tru s t Co mp any (“ FirstCitiz e ns” ) su ed B lanc a Ro hr, Co ry W hite, and Sp ec ializ e d Lo an Serv i c i n g LLC (“ SLS” ), in c onnec tio n w ith c ertain real p ro p erty and lo ans s ec u red by the p ro p e r ty. Fo llo w ing t he co u r t ’ s entry o f a N o v e mber 30, 2023 o r d er in the c ase, First- Citiz ens and R o h r ’ s w id o w er eac h f iled a no tic e o f ap p eal. Fo r t he reaso ns set f o rth belo w , these ap p eals are d ismissed

. I n the N o v ember 30, 2023 o rd er, t h e t r i al co u rt granted d ef end ant SLS’ s

mo tio n fo r su m mary j u d gment and d i s missed SLS f r o m t he c ase. I n ad d itio n, it granted First- Citiz ens’ s mo tio n f o r su mmary j u d gment as to its p etitio n to set asid e the c anc ellatio n o f a sec u r ity d eed u nd er Co u nt 1 o f its co mp laint. T he next d ay, D ec ember 1 , 2023, A lan Ku glar, R ohr’ s hu sband
, f il e d a n o tic e o f d eath and

su bstitu t io n o f Ro hr, ad v ising t hat Ro hr had died o n J une 26 , 2023, and that K u glar

w a s w aiting fo r the arriv al o f her d eath c ertif ic ate b ef o re initiating p ro ba t e
p ro c eed ings.
On D ec ember 27 , 2023, K u glar f iled a no tic e o f ap p eal fro m t he N o v ember 30,

2023 o rd er (d o c keted as Case N o

. A 24A 1 39 6 ). First- Citiz ens also f iled a no tic e o f

ap p eal f r o m the N o vember 30 ord er (d o c k eted as Case N o

. A 24A 139 7 )
, no ting that
it d id so in ord er to p reserv e its rights agai n s t Ro hr. On J anu ary 24, 2024, FirstCitiz e ns mo v ed in the trial c o u rt to d ismiss K u glar’ s ap p eal o n the basis that he had

no t been ap p o inted exec uto r o f Ro hr’ s estate and w as no t a p arty to the law su it at the time he f iled the no tic e o f

ap peal.
On Febru ary 1 6 , 2024, Ku glar mo v ed in the trial co u rt to su bstitu te himself
, in
his c ap ac ity as exec uto r o f Ro hr’ s estate, as a def end ant in the u nd erlying ac tio n. On July 12, 2024M arc h 28, 2024, the trial c o u rt g r a n t e d K uglar’ s mo tio n to s u bstitu te and d enied

First- Citiz ens’ s mo t io n to d ismiss K u glar’ s ap p eal.
First- Citiz ens no w has mo v ed in this Co u rt to d ismiss K u glar’ s ap p e al,

c o ntend ing that we lac k j u risd ic tio n. W e agree. Ro hr d ied in Ju ne 2023, and the ac tio n

w as su sp end ed a s to Ro hr up o n her d eath. See Ro b erts v

. JP Mo rga n C ha s e Ba n k, N

a t

. As s n

. , 36 2 Ga. Ap p. 37 5, 37 6 (86 8 SE2d 49 1 ) (2022) (“ [O]n the d eath o f a p arty, the

ac tio n is su sp end ed and th e s u s p e n s io n has the same temp orary e f fec t o n the rights

o f the p arties as tho u gh the su it ac tu a lly abated

. The ac t io n r e mains in abeyanc e and

c anno t pro c eed u ntil so meo ne is s u bstitu ted fo r the d e c ed e nt. ” ) ( c itatio n and

p u nc tu atio n o mitted ). “ Until so meo ne is p ro p erly su bstitu ted as a p art y a f ter the

ac tio n is thu s su s p e nd ed
, f u rther p ro ceed ings in the case are v o id as to the d ec ed ent. ”
S o u th DeKa lb Fa mi

ly Bra n c h o f YMC A v

. Fra zi

er , 236 Ga. 9 0 3 , 9 0 5 (225 SE2d 89 0) (1 9 7 6 ). Thu s, the o r d er o n ap p eal w as a nu llity as to Ro hr. I d

. Und er these circ u mstanc es, First- Citiz e ns’ s mo tio n to d ismiss the ap p e a l in
C a s e N o

. A 24A 139 6 is GRA N TED

. T he ap p eals in bo th Case N o s. A 24A 1 3 9 6 &
A 24A 1 39 7 are D I SM I SSED and REM AN DED to the t r ial c o u rt, w ith instru c tio ns to the c o u rt to v ac ate a ny o r d ers as to Ro hr that w e re entered af ter her d eath b u t bef

o re the su bstitu tio n o f K uglar. The p arties w ill hav e 30 d ays to f ile new no tic es o f ap p eal
f ro m any o r d ers then entered naming the p ro per p arties.

C o u r t o f A p p e a ls o f t h e S t a t e o f G e o r g ia

C le r k ’ s O ffic e , A t la n t a ,

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r t i fy t ha t t h e a b o v e is a t

r u e e x t r a c t fr o m

t h e m in u t e s o f t h e C o u r t o f A pp e a ls o f G e o r g ia

. W it n e s s m y s ig n a t u r e a n d t h e s e a l o f s a id c o u r t h e r e t o a ffix e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r la s t a b o v e w r

it t e n

.

, C le r

k

. 07/12/2024