Case Name: AGENCY FOR HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION, Appellant, v. In re ESTATE OF Kevin JOHNSON a/k/a Robert Watson, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1999-09-08
Citations: 743 So. 2d 83
Docket Number: No. 98-963
Parties: AGENCY FOR HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION, Appellant, v. In re ESTATE OF Kevin JOHNSON a/k/a Robert Watson, Appellee.
Judges: Before NESBITT, GODERICH, and GREEN, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 743
Pages: 83–89

Head Matter:
AGENCY FOR HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION, Appellant, v. In re ESTATE OF Kevin JOHNSON a/k/a Robert Watson, Appellee.
No. 98-963.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
Sept. 8, 1999.
Rehearing Denied Nov. 22, 1999.
Moses E. Williams (Tallahassee), for appellant.
Barbara Green, Miami, for appellee.
Before NESBITT, GODERICH, and GREEN, JJ.

Opinion:
GREEN, J.
The Agency for Health Care Administration ("AHCA") appeals an order of the probate court setting aside an order granting enforcement of its lien against the estate of Kevin Johnson a/k/a Robert Watson ("estate") pursuant to section 733.702, Florida Statute (1991). Although AHCA's verified claim for reimbursement of Medicaid expenditures advanced to the decedent was initially filed with the clerk of the court pursuant to the "Medicaid Third-Party Liability Act" ("FTPLA"), section 409.910, Florida Statute (1991), on Decern- ber 21, 1992, and prior to the opening of the estate, we conclude that it was nevertheless a timely creditor's claim also for purposes of section 733.702. We therefore reverse the order under review.
I
In October 1989, the decedent, Kevin Johnson, was hit by an automobile while enrolled in a Dade County after-school program. Kevin sustained severe spinal cord injuries and was treated for approximately twenty-two months at Jackson Memorial Hospital ("JMH"). He was then placed in a personal care facility where he later died on February 18, 1994. During his hospital stay, JMH applied for and received Medicaid payments for medical assistance rendered to Kevin from October 1989 until October 1993. Joanne Adside, Kevin's mother and guardian, filed suit against the Dade County School Board for negligence. This suit was subsequently settled for approximately 2.2 million dollars.
On December 21, 1992, prior to Kevin's death and the opening of the estate, AHCA filed and recorded its initial verified claim of lien totaling $488,442.38 with the clerk of court in Dade County pursuant to section 409.910, Florida Statutes. AHCA's verified substituted claim of lien in the amount of $617,227.94 was subsequently filed and recorded on November 3, 1993. Neither of these claims bears any certificate of service denoting personal service to anyone. Pursuant to section 409.910(6)(c)3, however, the mere filing of such claims with the clerk of court is sufficient to provide all persons with notice of these claims.
When Kevin died in 1994 and his estate went into probate, AHCA filed a formal caveat by creditor in the probate division requesting the clerk to provide it with notice of the probate matters pertaining to the decedent's estate. On May 12, 1994, Kevin's mother (Adside) was appointed personal representative of the estate. Letters of administration were issued to her on August 9, 1994, for her to administer the estate and pay the debts of the decedent. On August 11, 1994, the notice of administration was filed and published in a local newspaper specifically directing all creditors and persons having claims or demands against the decedent's estate to file their claims within three months of the date of the publication of the notice or have their claims forever barred pursuant to section 733.702. Specifically, this statute provides in relevant part that:
733.702 Limitations on presentation of claims.—
(1) If not barred by § 733.710, no claim or demand against the decedent's estate that arose before the death of the decedent, including claims of the state and any of its subdivisions, whether due or not, direct or contingent, or liquidated or unliquidated; no claim for funeral or burial expenses; no claim for personal property in the possession of the personal representative; and no claim for damages, including, but not limited to, an action founded on fraud or another wrongful act or omission of the decedent, is binding on the estate, on the personal representative, or on any beneficiary unless filed •within the later of 3 months after the time of the first publication of the notice of administration or, as to any creditor required to be served with a copy of the notice of administration, 30 days after the date of service of such copy of the notice on the creditor, even though the personal representativé has recognized the claim or demand by paying a part of it or interest on it or otherwise....
(3) Any claim not timely filed as provided in this section is barred even though no objection to the claim is filed on the grounds of timeliness or otherwise unless the court extends the time in which the claim may be filed. Such an extension may be granted only upon grounds of fraud, estoppel, or insufficient notice of the claims period. No independent action or declaratory action may be brought upon a claim which was not timely filed unless such, an extension has been granted. If the personal representative or any other interested person serves on the creditor a notice to file a petition for an extension or be forever barred, the creditor shall be limited to a period of 30 days from the date of service of the notice in which to file a petition for extension.
A copy of this notice was sent by the clerk of court to AHCA on August 11, 1994, pursuant to its formal caveat of creditor. Despite this notice of administration, AHCA did not file an additional creditor's claim pursuant to section 733.702. Instead, some ten months later, AHCA filed a motion for enforcement of lien and substituted claim of lien totaling $697,356.89 in the probate proceeding on July 5, 1995. Thereafter, a hearing was held on August 25, 1995, on AHCA's motion for enforcement of lien before then probate Judge Robert H. Newman. Although provided notice of this hearing, the estate's counsel arrived late and after the court had orally granted AHCA's motion. The estate filed its motion for rehearing on September. 13, 1995, three days prior to the court's filing of its written order granting the enforcement of AHCA's lien. In this order, Ad-side, as the personal representative, was directed to disburse $697,356.89 to AHCA within ten days.
Thereafter, the issue of AHCA's claim and the estate's motion for rehearing basically remained dormant during the pen-dency of JMH's independent litigation with the school board and Adside and the resulting appeal to this court. See Public Health Trust of Dade County, Florida v. Dade County Sch. Bd., 693 So.2d 562 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). In July of 1997, AHCA initiated proceedings to have Adside held in contempt of court for her failure to pay the $697,356 .89 in accordance with the court's September 14, 1996 order. By this time, Adside and the estate had secured new counsel who, on September 5, 1997, filed a motion to set aside the order granting enforcement of lien.
In an order dated March 23, 1998, the successor probate judge below set aside the order granting enforcement of AHCA's lien and concluded that AHCA had never filed a timely lien pursuant to section 733.702; therefore, it was forever barred from recouping any payment from the estate. This appeal followed. AHCA argues that the trial court erred because section 733.702 is a statute of limitations and thus, an affirmative defense which has been specifically superseded or abrogated by the Florida Legislature in section 409.910. AHCA further asserts that the estate's motion to set aside the order enforcing lien filed two years after the filing of the order granting enforcement of lien was untimely and the court below lacked jurisdiction to entertain the same.
II
We elect to address AHCA's arguments in inverse order and begin with the issue of the timeliness of the estate's motion for rehearing and/or its substituted motion to set aside order granting enforcement of lien. A trial court has no authority to modify or vacate a final order except in the manner and within the time frame provided by rule or statute. See Al Springer Roofing Co., Inc. v. Flagler Fed. Sav. and Loan Assoc. of Miami, 357 So.2d 478, 479 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978). A motion for rehearing of a probate order or judgment is specifically provided for in Rule 5.020(d) of the Florida Rules of Probate Procedure:
Rehearing. A motion for rehearing of any order or judgment shall be served not later than 10 days after the date of filing the order or judgment with the clerk as shown on the face of the order or judgment.
It is axiomatic, of course, that an authorized and timely motion for rehearing suspends rendition of an order until the court has disposed of the motion for rehearing. See Fla. R.App. P. 9.020(h); Shelby Mut. Ins. Co. of Shelby, Ohio v. Pearson, 236 So.2d 1, 3 (Fla.1970); Kippy Corp. v. Colburn, 177 So.2d 193, 197 (Fla.1965); Zimbrick v. Zimbrick, 453 So.2d 1155, 1157 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984).
The estate timely perfected its motion for rehearing within the ten day period prescribed by rule 5.020(d). The fact that it was filed prior to the filing of the order to which it was directed did not, we think, affect its validity. See generally Zimbrick, 453 So.2d at 1158 (stating that "[njothing in the language of Rule . requires that a motion be invalidated simply because it bears an earlier time stamp than the final order to which it is directed."). Although the practice of moving for rehearing prior to the actual entry of an order or judgment might be unusual, there is nothing in the language of Rule 5.020(d) which invalidates the estate's motion for rehearing simply because it bears an earlier time stamp than the final order to which it is directed. Having timely perfected its motion for rehearing, we are aware of no rule which thereafter precludes the estate from amending its motion prior to its consideration by the court. Thus, we find no merit to AHCA's contention that the court below lacked jurisdiction to entertain and grant the estate's motion to set aside the order granting enforcement of lien and we turn our attention to the remaining and central issue of this appeal.
Ill
AHCA maintains that section 733.702 is a statute of limitations and thus, an affirmative defense which has been specifically abrogated by section 409.910(1), Florida Statutes (1997). Section 409.910(1) provides in relevant part that:
# * % % ^ ^
If benefits of a liable third party are available, it is the intent of the Legislature that Medicaid be repaid in full and prior to any other person, program, or entity. Medicaid is to be repaid in full from, and to the extent of, any third-party benefits, regardless of whether a recipient is made whole or other creditors paid. Principles of common law and equity as to assignment, lien, sub-rogation, comparative negligence, assumption of risk, and all other qffima-tive defenses normally available to a liable third party, are to be abrogated to the extent necessary to ensure full recovery by Medicaid from third-party resources; such principles shall apply to a recipient's right to recovery against any third party, but shall not act to reduce the recovery of the agency pursuant to this section.... It is intended that if the resources of a liable third party become available at any time, the public treasury should not bear the burden of medical assistance to the extent of such resources.... (emphasis added)
The estate, however, counters that section 733.702 is a jurisdictional non-claim statute which bars any untimely claim against the estate and thus, cannot be abrogated by section 409.910.
It is axiomatic, however, that the courts must presume that statutes are passed with knowledge of prior existing statutes and where possible, it is the duty of the courts to favor a construction that gives a field of operation to all rather than construe one statute as being meaningless or repealed by implication. See Oldham v. Rooks, 361 So.2d 140, 148 (Fla.1978); Woodgate Dev. Corp. v. Hamilton Invest. Trust, 351 So.2d 14, 16 (Fla.1977). There-, fore, whenever possible, courts must attempt to harmonize and reconcile two different statutes to preserve the force and effect of each. See Unruh v. State, 669 So.2d 242, 245 (Fla.1996) (stating that "[t]his follows the general rule that the legislature does not intend 'to enact purposeless and therefore useless legislation.' ") (citation omitted). There must be hopeless inconsistency before rules of construction are applied to defeat the plain language of one of the statutes. See Starr Tyme, Inc. v. Cohen, 659 So.2d 1064, 1068 (Fla.1995).
In accordance with these established principles, we deem it unnecessary for us to consider whether section 733.702 of the probate code is a statute of limitations which has been abrogated by section 409.910 of the FTPLA because we conclude that these statutes may be reconciled to give effect to the intent and provisions of each in this case. When so harmonized, we find that AHCA's verified claim, initially filed ón December 21, 1992, pursuant to section 409 .910(6)(c)2, was sufficient to timely perfect its lien against the estate pursuant to section 733.702. Both sections 409.910 and 733.702 require AHCA to file its verified claim of hen in order to place all interested persons on notice of its creditor's lien. ' Although section 409.910 requires the claim to be filed with the clerk of the court, section 733.702(1) is silent as to where a creditor's verified claim is to be filed in order to be perfected. By rule, however, the Florida Supreme Court has prescribed that a creditor's statement of claim against an estate pursuant to section 733.702(1) be verified and filed with the clerk of court and states the following:
(1) the basis for the claim;
(2) the amount claimed;
(3) the name and address of the creditor;
(4) the security for the claim, if any; and
(5) whether the claim is due or involves an uncertainty and, if not due, then the due date and, if contingent or unliquidat-ed, the nature of the uncertainty.
Fla. Prob. R. 5.490. We further note that neither section 409.910 nor 733.702(1) requires personal service of the verified creditor's lien upon anyone to be effective. The probate rules, however, require the creditor filing a claim pursuant to section 733.702 to also furnish the clerk with an additional copy of its claim for the clerk to mail to either the personal representative or the attorney for the personal representative. See Fla. Prob. R. 5.490(b),(c). But it is specifically provided in the probate rules that the failure to deliver or receive a copy of the claim does not affect the validity of the creditor's claim. See id. at (d).
In this case, since AHCA has had its verified and recorded claim on file with the clerk of court pursuant to section 409.910 since December 21, 1992, and prior to the expiration period contained in section 733.702, we believe that the real and dis-positive issue on this appeal is whether the section 409.910 claim was sufficient to satisfy the requirements of section 733.702. We conclude that it was. In reviewing the contents of AHCA's 1992 verified claim of lien and the subsequent amendments thereto, we find that it fulfilled all of the requirements of rule 5.490(a). Thus, having filed and perfected its claim of lien with the clerk of court prior to the time limitations contained in section 733.702, AHCA is entitled to have its lien satisfied. Were we to discount AHCA's verified claim of lien filed and recorded -with the clerk on December 21, 1992, we would effectively be invalidating the provisions of section 409.910 or rendering them utterly meaningless. This we will not do absent clear legislative intent. See Unruh, 669 So.2d at 245; Forsythe v. Longboat Key Beach Erosion Control Dist., 604 So.2d 452, 456 (Fla.1992); Villery v. Florida Parole & Probation Comm'n, 396 So.2d 1107, 1111 (Fla.1980); Cilento v. State, 377 So.2d 663, 666 (Fla.1979).
Accordingly, we reverse the order setting aside the order granting enforcement of AHCA's lien and striking AHCA's statement of claim as untimely for purposes of this probate proceeding and remand for further proceedings.
Reversed.
GODERICH, J., concurs.
. Section 409.910 provides in relevant part:
(6)(c) The department is entitled to, and has, an automatic lien for the full amount of medical assistance provided by Medicaid to or on behalf of the recipient for medical care furnished as a result of any covered injury or illness for which a third party is or may be liable, . [.]
1. The lien attaches automatically when a recipient first receives treatment for which the department may be obligated to provide medical assistance under the Medicaid program. The lien is perfected automatically at the time of attachment.
2. The department is authorized to file a verified claim of lien . The claim of lien may be filed and recorded with the clerk of the circuit court in the recipient's last known county of residence or in any county deemed appropriate by the department.
. That section provides that:
The filing of the claim of lien pursuant to this section shall be notice thereof to all persons.
. Even if it did not, the probate court had discretion to allow it to be amended by AHCA at any time. See Fla. Prob. R. 5.490(e).