Title: Matter of Estate of Reed
Citation: 1989 WY 26, 768 P.2d 566
Docket Number: 
State: Wyoming
Issuer: Wyoming Supreme Court
Date: January 31, 1989

Matter of Estate of Reed Annotate this Case Matter of Estate of Reed 1989 WY 26 768 P.2d 566 Case Number: 88-137 Decided: 01/31/1989 Supreme Court of Wyoming IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF ROSS L. REED, DECEASED. SALLYE REED, APPELLANT (PLAINTIFF), v. MARGARET D. REED, EXECUTRIX AND PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF ROSS L. REED, APPELLEE (DEFENDANT). Appeal from the District Court, UintaCounty, John D. Troughton, J. C.S. Hinckley of Hinckley and Hinckley, Basin and Roy Stoddard, Jr., Cheyenne, for appellant (plaintiff). John J. Metzke of Hirst & Applegate, Cheyenne, for appellee (defendant). Before CARDINE, C.J., and THOMAS, URBIGKIT, MACY and GOLDEN, JJ. URBIGKIT, Justice. [¶1.] This appeal is set forth by a daughter as a will contest between herself and her stepmother over her father's estate and questions the propriety of the dismissal of the daughter's contest to the Wyoming probate. The lash of their mutual ill will is well chronicled. The will, which disinherited the daughter in favor of the stepmother, was originally probated in California under The Independent Administration of Estates Act, Cal.Probate Code §§ 591-591.9 (West 1988)1 for a minimum estate (alleged $500). The will was then presented for admission in Wyoming as a foreign will to probate the mineral estate here valued in excess of $2 million. The trial court dismissed the daughter's amended complaint as failing to plead with particularity fraud, duress, menace, and undue influence as being both insufficient in text and too late in time to contest. [¶2.] The daughter (appellant) comprehensively raised several issues.2 We condense the issues to three dispositive bases: (1) whether the motion to dismiss was converted to a summary judgment; (2) whether the California probate is controlling over real property located in Wyoming; and (3) whether the notice given was insufficient. We reverse and remand. FACTS [¶3.] A resident of California at death, former Wyomingite Ross L. Reed died on March 29, 1984 leaving his second wife, Margaret D. Reed (appellee), as surviving spouse and Sallye Reed (appellant) as his sole surviving child from his first marriage. Ross L. Reed had amassed extensive property both in Wyoming and California with much of the California property held in joint tenancy which passed without probate. The remaining California assets of a stated value of $500 were transferred to appellee when the will was offered for California probate, to which appellant did not appear nor contest. Appellee, as personal representative of the estate, then offered the will as a foreign probated will in this jurisdiction under W.S. 2-11-101 through 2-11-303 to administer the extensive Wyoming mineral interests. The District Court of Uinta County, Wyoming admitted the will on October 4, 1985. Therefore, a notice was published in the Uinta County Herald. The notice, will, and Wyoming order admitting the will to probate were contendably mailed, not to appellant, but to a California attorney who had some years before represented appellant. No direct mailing to the heir is alleged or admitted. Eighteen months later, on April 21, 1987, appellee's Wyoming law firm was advised that appellant had not received notice of the Wyoming proceedings. This will contest was instituted on June 8, 1987 and it is from dismissal that this appeal ensued. MOTION TO DISMISS [¶4.] Although originally undertaken as motions to dismiss under W.R.C.P. 12(b)(1), (4), (5), and (6) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction; insufficient process; insufficient service of process; and failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, this matter was converted to a summary judgment character under W.R.C.P. 56 for our review by the district court's consideration of matters outside the pleadings such as affidavits and memoranda. See W.R.C.P. 12(b); Torrey v. Twiford, 713 P.2d 1160 (Wyo. 1986); Kirby Bldg. Systems, Inc. v. Independence Partnership No. One, 634 P.2d 342 (Wyo. 1981); and Wyoming Ins. Dept. v. Sierra Life Ins. Co., 599 P.2d 1360 (Wyo. 1979). An extended recitation of summary judgment analysis will not be pursued, but at its foundation is the principle that a summary judgment should be granted only when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Also, the record is examined in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion was sought. See Matter of Estate of Newell, 765 P.2d 1353 (Wyo. 1988); Frieden Construction, Inc. v. Lower & Company, 766 P.2d 527 (Wyo. 1988); Matter of Estate of Obra, 749 P.2d 272 (Wyo. 1988); and Cordova v. Gosar, 719 P.2d 625 (Wyo. 1986). Thus, this case will be reviewed as a summary judgment decision with all favorable inferences favoring appellant in evidentiary analysis. SITUS OF PROPERTY [¶5.] Appellee contends that the California probate is conclusive as to the validity and effect of the will for the ancillary administration3 of the Wyoming mineral estate. We disagree. Wyoming has been faced with this conflict of laws dilemma previously and held for many years that the lex loci rei sitae controls as to real property within this state. Justice Blume exhaustively examined this subject in In Re Ray's Estate, 74 Wyo. 317, 287 P.2d 629 , 633-34 (1955) (quoting Annotation, Decree of Court of Domicil Respecting Validity or Construction of Will, or Admitting it or Denying its Admission to Probate, as Conclusive as Regards Real Estate in Another State Devised by Will, 131 A.L.R. 1023, 1026 (1941)) and summarized the situation: "Subject to statutory provisions to the contrary, express or by construction, and a few cases to the contrary, some of which are explainable on statutory grounds, it may be stated generally that the great weight of authority favors the rule that a judgment or decree of a court of a decedent's domicil passing (expressly or by implication from admission to probate) upon the validity or construction of his will, devising real property in another state, is not conclusive as to that question, so far as it concerns such real property, in the courts of the other state, either upon parties or nonparties to the proceeding in which the judgment in the former state is rendered, whether considered under the full faith and credit provision or the doctrine of res judicata or estoppel by judgment or upon general grounds as to conclusiveness of judgments." Consequently, for over forty-five years it has been "settled law that the devolution of real property in this state and the effect of the decedent's will must be determined by the laws of this state." In Re Ray's Estate, 287 P.2d at 635. See also Rivermeadows, Inc. v. Zwaanshoek Holding and Financiering, B.V., 761 P.2d 662 , 667 (Wyo. 1988); Matter of Miller's Estate, 541 P.2d 28 , 33-34 (Wyo. 1975); In Re Estate of Gibbs, 73 Wyo. 425, 280 P.2d 556 , 559-60 (1955); and In Re Smith's Estate, 55 Wyo. 181, 97 P.2d 677 (1940). Justice Brown, dissenting in Matter of Estate of Harrington, 648 P.2d 556 , 575 (Wyo. 1982), concisely explained that "[t]he rule exists because it is particularly important that there be certainty, predictability and uniformity of result and ease in the determination and application of the law to be applied concerning transactions of land." An ascertainment of Wyoming law reveals that clearly through common law, Wyoming has adopted the lex loci rei sitae principle. Although not considered by either party in brief, that universal rule has been statutorily addressed by W.S. 2-6-1044 which provides: The meaning and legal effect of a disposition in a will is determined by the law of the state in which the will was executed, unless the will otherwise provides or unless the application of that law is contrary to the public policy of this state otherwise applicable to the disposition. [¶6.] The Reed will was executed in California without any provision stating which law should be applied; thus, California law must be examined to determine how real property located in California devolved under a foreign probated will would be treated. Our detour through California law need only be brief because California recognizes the lex loci rei sitae controls as to real property without any statutory modification. See In Re Estrem's Estate, 16 Cal. 2d 563 , 107 P.2d 36, 38 (1940); In Re Reynolds' Estate, 217 Cal. 557, 20 P.2d 323, 325 (1933); In Re Bowditch's Estate, 189 Cal. 377, 208 P. 282, 283 (1922); Muth v. Educators Sec. Ins. Co., 114 Cal. App. 3d 749 , 170 Cal. Rptr. 849 , 854 (1981); Thatcher v. City Terrace Cultural Center, 181 Cal. App. 2d 433 , 5 Cal. Rptr. 396, 407 (1960); In Re Brace's Estate, 180 Cal. App. 2d 797 , 4 Cal. Rptr. 683, 686 (1960); and In Re Estate of Patmore, 141 Cal. App. 2d 416 , 296 P.2d 863, 865 (1956). Consequently, with California law and Wyoming law substantially the same - the law of the situs of the real property controls - it is not necessary to pursue a further analysis of W.S. 2-6-104 nor determine if the public policy of Wyoming would be violated. Douglas v. Newell, 719 P.2d 971 , 981 (Wyo. 1986); Matter of Estate of Campbell, 673 P.2d 645 , 647 n. 3 (Wyo. 1983). See Lipe v. Lipe, 728 P.2d 1124 (Wyo. 1986) for consideration of foreign jurisdiction interpretation of its own law. Historically, California was the source of much of the early Wyoming statutory law on probate as 1890 Wyo. Sess. Laws ch. 70. See Rice v. Tilton, 14 Wyo. 101, 82 P. 577 (1905). NOTICE [¶7.] With determination that Wyoming law governs as to real estate, analysis is directed to the notice compliance for this probate under the Wyoming statutes.5 At the basis of the contest action and implicit in the district court's dismissal was the conclusion that the Wyoming notice published in the newspaper was sufficient to meet W.S. 2-7-2016. The propriety of any contest hinges on the validity of the notice which starts the three months limitation time for will contest. The sufficiency of the published notice is also dispositive as to any contended mailed notice under W.S. 2-7-205(a)7 because any notice allegedly sent to appellant was the same as the published notice. The published notice stated: You are hereby notified that on the 4th day of October, 1985, the Estate of the above named decedent was admitted to probate by the above named Court, and that Margaret D. Reed was appointed Personal Representative thereof. Notice is further given that all persons indebted to said Decedent or to said Estate are requested to make immediate payment to the undersigned at [Wyoming law firm]. Creditors having claims against said Decedent or the estate are required to file them with the necessary vouchers, in the office of the Clerk of the District Court of said Court, on or before three months after the date of the first publication of this notice, and if such claims are not so filed, unless otherwise allowed or paid, they will be forever barred. [¶8.] Appellee recognizes that this notice provision lacks comportment with the statute by not stating that any action to set aside the will must be filed within three months, but argues that substantial compliance is sufficient. Although we have never had an occasion to directly construe the required notice under W.S. 2-7-201, we disagree with appellee's position. Appellee solely relies on Hartt v. Brimmer, 74 Wyo. 356, 287 P.2d 645 (1955) to conclude her notice was sufficient. However, Hartt, 287 P.2d at 648 is distinguishable in that there was no contention the notice was not published in accord with statutory mandate, and the parties signed a waiver to any required statutory mailed notice. [¶9.] The legislature in W.S. 2-7-201 specifically outlined the elements that must be contained in a notice, and additionally provided a form which could be easily utilized. The statute is clear and precise. We cannot construe out the omitted requirements to constitute substantial compliance to meet the statutory mandate. [¶10.] Additionally, this situation is more egregious than the one this court faced in Hanson v. Estate of Belden, 668 P.2d 1331 (Wyo. 1983) involving a similar matter in a slightly different context where strict compliance was required. The sufficiency of the notice to start the thirty day period for filing a claim after rejection under W.S. 2-7-718 was questioned, since it arrived by ordinary and not certified mail, although acknowledged to be timely received by the creditor. In Hanson, this court held that the notice provisions in the probate code mandate strict compliance when dealing with creditors and a short period of limitations. While the time for setting aside a will is longer than thirty days, the notice of time to set aside the will is crucial and as final to an heir as to a creditor. Moreover, in Hanson, unquestionably, the creditor received notice albeit through an improper route. In the instant case, appellant denies ever receiving any notice which must be taken as true as this summary judgment stage when the record is viewed most favorably to her. Consequently, the district court erred as a matter of law in not requiring the notice to comply with W.S. 2-7-201, especially when a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether appellant ever received any actual notice. [¶11.] In summary, Wyoming law controls as to real property located within this state, and the Wyoming notice provisions were not strictly complied with. The "special public policy" of prompt settlement of estates cannot be achieved unless the published notice is initially statutorily sufficient to trigger the three months time. Hartt, 287 P.2d at 653. No proper notice has yet been published sufficient to trigger the start of the three months time to file an action to set aside this will. Consequently, the district court erred in dismissing this contest action as filed too late. The complaint was not untimely, since it predated proper notice. DISMISSAL FOR LACK OF PARTICULARITY IN PLEADING FRAUD [¶12.] The decision of the district court was premised on giving full faith and credit to the California proceeding. The district court stated that "[i]t seems clear that our statute requires full faith and credit to be given to wills duly admitted to probate in other jurisdictions." The recitation of factual events regarding California probate and notice of Wyoming probate may be interesting but immaterial, since we hold that issues of will validity as affecting Wyoming real estate will be determined in this Wyoming proceeding. [¶13.] As a proponent of the will, appellee only responded procedurally by a motion to dismiss and the substantive sufficiency of appellant's pleading to properly attack the will itself for undue influence or whatever was not presented for trial court decision.8 Consequently, pleading sufficiency of the complaint is not now considered. Knudson v. Hilzer, 551 P.2d 680 (Wyo. 1976). [¶14.] Reversed and remanded for further proceedings in conformity with this opinion. FOOT