Title: Ivinson Memorial Hosp. v. Swindler
Citation: 1992 WY 39, 828 P.2d 1190
Docket Number: 
State: Wyoming
Issuer: Wyoming Supreme Court
Date: April 10, 1992

Ivinson Memorial Hosp. v. Swindler Annotate this Case Ivinson Memorial Hosp. v. Swindler 1992 WY 39 828 P.2d 1190 Case Number: 91-201 Decided: 04/10/1992 Supreme Court of Wyoming IVINSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. James P. SWINDLER, Jr., Personal Representative of the Estate of David Javens, Appellee (Defendant). Appeal from District Court, Albany County, Arthur T. Hanscum, J. Paul D. Schierer of Pence and MacMillan, Laramie, for appellant. George L. Zimmers of Zimmers and Lopez, Laramie, for appellee. Before URBIGKIT, C.J., THOMAS, MACY and GOLDEN, JJ., and GRANT, District Judge. MACY, Justice. [¶1] Appellant Ivinson Memorial Hospital filed a complaint in the district court, seeking to recover $2,133.871 owed to it by Appellee James P. Swindler, Jr., as the personal representative of the estate of David Javens.2 The district court dismissed the petition because the matter was not within the district court's jurisdiction. [¶2] We affirm. [¶3] The hospital claims that the dismissal was erroneous as the district court had jurisdiction pursuant to Wyo. Stat. § 2-2-101 (Supp. 1991)3 (district court has exclusive jurisdiction in probate matters). Swindler asserts that the matter was within the exclusive jurisdiction of the county court pursuant to Wyo. Stat. § 5-5-131(a)(i) (Supp. 1991) (county court has exclusive jurisdiction when prayer for recovery is for an amount not exceeding $7,000). [¶4] The complaint alleges that the hospital submitted a creditor's claim to Swindler and that Swindler rejected the claim by a notice mailed on May 13, 1991. The hospital filed its complaint on June 7, 1991. Section 2-2-101 vests the district court with exclusive jurisdiction "of all matters touching the settlement and distribution of . . . estates"; however, that grant of exclusive jurisdiction is tempered by the following sentence: "The jurisdiction over subject matter of the district court sitting in probate, sometimes referred to in this Title 2 as the `probate court', is coextensive with the jurisdiction over subject matter of the district court in any civil action." Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-717 (1980) authorizes the filing of a suit such as that at issue here once a creditor's claim has been rejected and the rejection has been filed with the clerk. Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-718 (1980) directs that a suit filed against a personal representative must be brought in the proper court. In this instance, the proper court was the county court because its civil jurisdiction extended to this claim and the district court's jurisdiction did not. Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-719 (1980) also contemplates the suit at issue and requires that any judgment obtained in such a suit be filed with the clerk. The hospital did not follow this procedure. [¶5] The matters alleged in the complaint were within the exclusive jurisdiction of the county court as provided in § 5-5-131(a)(i). If a judgment on the complaint were obtained from the proper court, it could then be filed in the probate court, assuming all other relevant provisions of the probate code had been followed. [¶6] Affirmed. FOOT