Title: McCook Nat. Bank v. Bennett
Citation: 248 Neb. 567, 537 N.W.2d 353
Docket Number: 1079, 1100
State: Nebraska
Issuer: Nebraska Supreme Court
Date: September 22, 1995

537 N.W.2d 353 (1995) 248 Neb. 567 McCOOK NATIONAL BANK, a national banking corporation, Appellee, v. Daylene BENNETT, Personal Representative of the Estate of Joseph Edd Case, also known as Edd Case, Appellant. No. S-93-1079. Supreme Court of Nebraska. September 22, 1995. *354 Daylene A. Bennett, pro se. Stanley C. Goodwin, of Colfer, Wood, Goodwin and Lyons, McCook, for appellee. WHITE, C.J., and CAPORALE, FAHRNBRUCH, LANPHIER, WRIGHT, CONNOLLY, and GERRARD, JJ. LANPHIER, Justice. McCook National Bank (Bank) obtained a judgment lien on real estate owned by Edd Case at the time of his death. The Bank and Daylene Bennett, the personal representative of Case's estate (Personal Representative), disputed whether the Bank could proceed to execute on that real estate. The Personal Representative claimed that the Bank was required to file a claim in the probate proceedings. The real estate was sold by the Personal Representative, and the proceeds were deposited with the clerk of the *355 district court for Hitchcock County subject to the outcome of these proceedings. Following a bench trial before the district court, the district court clerk was ordered to dispense the proceeds, plus interest, to the Bank, the judgment lienholder. The Personal Representative appealed to the Nebraska Court of Appeals, and pursuant to our authority to regulate the caseloads of lower courts, we removed the case to our docket. Finding no merit in any of the assignments of error, we affirm the holding of the trial court. The Bank secured a judgment against Case on January 30, 1989, in the amount of $207,603.12, plus interest. The judgment lien attached any real estate owned by Case in Hitchcock County by operation of law. See Neb.Rev.Stat. § 25-1504 (Reissue 1989). Case died on December 19, 1991, before the satisfaction of the judgment. Case had an interest in the real property in Hitchcock County at the time of his death. After Case's death, the action was revived against his Personal Representative. The Bank did not make a claim in the probate proceedings pursuant to the Nebraska Probate Code. See Neb.Rev.Stat. § 30-2485 (Cum.Supp.1994). The Personal Representative argues that enforcement of the lien is therefore barred by the nonclaims statute. The value of the real property was assessed at $34,053. The Personal Representative requested and received court authority and sold the real property for a fair and reasonable price. The Personal Representative and the Bank agreed that the Bank would release its judgment lien against the subject real property with the proceeds from the sale to be deposited with the clerk of the district court for Hitchcock County. The parties stipulated that the Bank's judgment lien, if any, would continue on the proceeds pending further court order. The Personal Representative asserts that the trial court erred in (1) determining that the Nebraska Probate Code was not applicable and controlling in this matter, (2) ordering the proceeds held by the clerk of the district court to be paid directly to the Bank rather than finding the proceeds assets of the estate to be administered pursuant to the Nebraska Probate Code, (3) not finding that the Bank was required to comply with § 30-2485 and Neb.Rev.Stat. § 30-2486 (Reissue 1989) of the Nebraska Probate Code, and (4) not determining that Neb.Rev.Stat. § 30-2487 (Reissue 1989) of the Nebraska Probate Code was controlling when a decedent's estate is insolvent. When reviewing a question of law, an appellate court reaches a conclusion independent of the lower court's ruling. Eggers v. Rittscher, 247 Neb. 648, 529 N.W.2d 741 (1995); Dolan v. Svitak, 247 Neb. 410, 527 N.W.2d 621 (1995); Hausse v. Kimmey, 247 Neb. 23, 524 N.W.2d 567 (1994). In a bench trial of a law action, the trial court's factual findings have the effect of a jury verdict and will not be set aside on appeal unless they are clearly wrong. Lincoln Lumber Co. v. Fowler, 248 Neb. 221, 533 N.W.2d 898 (1995); First Westside Bank v. For-Med, Inc., 247 Neb. 641, 529 N.W.2d 66 (1995); Label Concepts v. Westendorf Plastics, 247 Neb. 560, 528 N.W.2d 335 (1995). The dispositive issue in this case is whether the Bank's judgment lien on the proceeds from the sale is a claim on the estate and subject to the provisions of the Nebraska Probate Code. The Nebraska Legislature addressed this issue in the following sections of the Nebraska Probate Code: § 30-2485(c)(1) and Neb.Rev.Stat. §§ 30-2494, 30-2209(4), and 30-2496 (Reissue 1989). In settling upon the meaning of a statute, an appellate court must determine and give effect to the purpose and intent of the Legislature as ascertained from the entire language of the statute considered in its plain, ordinary, and popular sense, it being the court's duty to discover, if possible, the Legislature's intent from the language of the statute itself. George Rose &amp; Sons v. Nebraska *356 Dept. of Revenue, 248 Neb. 92, 532 N.W.2d 18 (1995); State ex rel. Scherer v. Madison Cty. Comrs., 247 Neb. 384, 527 N.W.2d 615 (1995); Anderson v. Nashua Corp., 246 Neb. 420, 519 N.W.2d 275 (1994). In determining the meaning of a statute, an appellate court may conjunctively consider and construe a collection of statutes which pertain to a certain subject matter to determine the intent of the Legislature so that different provisions of the act are consistent, harmonious, and sensible. Anderson v. Nashua Corp., supra; Association of Commonwealth Claimants v. Moylan, 246 Neb. 88, 517 N.W.2d 94 (1994); Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Kissinger Farms, 244 Neb. 620, 508 N.W.2d 568 (1993). The Nebraska Probate Code addresses liens in three sections, in the context of the probate code's restrictions on claims. Two sections explicitly exempt liens from the effects of being a claim under the Nebraska Probate Code. The first section discussed is the nonclaims statute. Judgment liens are not a liability of the estate within the definition of claims. The Nebraska Probate Code specifically excludes liens from claims. The first instance where liens are explicitly exempt is the nonclaims statute, § 30-2485, which states: (Emphasis supplied.) The provisions of the Nebraska Probate Code explicitly exempt liens from the definition of both a claim and a liability. A judgment lien is not a claim and is not subject to the provisions of the Nebraska Probate Code. The Legislature apparently intended to define all liabilities, of which a personal representative may not be aware, as claims governed by the Nebraska Probate Code in order to facilitate efficient administration of an estate. In In re Estate of Feuerhelm, 215 Neb. 872, 874-75, 341 N.W.2d 342, 344 (1983), we stated: A secured judgment lien poses no threat to the efficient administration of the estate. Its existence is public record. The second section that explicitly excludes liens is § 30-2494, which states: (Emphasis supplied.) The statute uses lien in the broadest sense of the word because the definition does not modify the term "lien" with any adjectives. A judgment lien against the decedent in existence prior to the death of the decedent also *357 falls within this exclusion of the Nebraska Probate Code. The Personal Representative argues that a lien is a claim as defined by § 30-2209(4). However, the Nebraska Probate Code exempts liens in § 30-2209 because a lien by definition is not a liability as that term is used in the definition of claims. Section 30-2209(4) states: (Emphasis supplied.) The judgment is not a liability as that term is used in § 30-2209(4). A lien is a "claim, encumbrance, or charge on property for payment of some debt, obligation or duty." Black's Law Dictionary 922 (6th ed. 1990). A liability is "all character of debts and obligations." Black's Law Dictionary 914 (6th ed. 1990). A lien is security for a liability. It is not the liability itself. The judgment lien in this case was not a liability of the estate. A personal representative has discretion to satisfy an encumbrance immediately if it is in the best interests of the estate. Section 30-2496 states: The Legislature clearly exempted attached judicial liens from the definition of a claim. The Bank, as the judgment debtor, was free to proceed in the district court without filing a claim in the probate proceedings. The obvious purpose of the nonclaims statute and other such provisions is to allow for a quick and effective distribution of the probate estate. The primary purpose is to quiet the estate and bar future suits from unsecured creditors. A judicial lienholder obviously satisfies the purposes of the nonclaims statute. The debt is known, settled, and secured by the laws of the state. It should already be taken into account by the time probate administration is commenced. The judgment lien held by the Bank is not a claim under the Nebraska Probate Code. The judgment below is affirmed. AFFIRMED.