Appeal by plaintiffs from order entered 19 April 1999 by Judge Wiley F. Bowen in Chatham County Superior Court. Originally heard in the Court of Appeals 19 April 2000. In an opinion filed 15 August 2000, this Court concluded the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiffs' declaratory judgment action contesting defendant Suzanne E. Day's right to dissent from her deceased husband's will. We affirmed the trial court's 19 April 1999 order granting summary judgment in favor of defendant Day. Plaintiffs instituted a declaratory judgment action to determine whether defendant Suzanne E. Day is entitled to dissent from her deceased husband's will.
Plaintiffs are the nieces andnephew of the decedent.
As such, we address the issues on appeal only as they relate to defendant Day. Plaintiffs first argue they have standing to contest Day's right of dissent in this action, and as such, the trial court should not have granted summary judgment in favor of defendant Day. Plaintiffs contend that when N.C. Gen. Stat. 30-1 is read in pari materia with certain provisions of the Declaratory Judgment Act, including N.C. Gen. Stat. Although we disagree, the problem relates not to a lack of standing, but to a lack of subject matter jurisdiction.