Opinion ID: 1802346
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Circuit Court summary judgment

Text: ¶ 43. The Leflore County Circuit Court denied the Defendants' motion for summary judgment which challenged Price's authority to maintain the wrongful death lawsuit in Leflore County. The trial court simply denied the motion without further explanation. The Defendants argue that the Leflore County Circuit Court erred by denying their motion for summary judgment because as a matter of law, Price had no authority or capacity to file the wrongful death suit in Leflore County. ¶ 44. This Court set forth the standard of review in summary judgment cases in Citifinancial Retail Services v. Hooks, 922 So.2d 775, 779 (Miss.2006): This Court applies a de novo standard of review on appeal from a denial of summary judgment by the trial court. Saucier ex rel. Saucier v. Biloxi Reg'l Med. Ctr., 708 So.2d 1351, 1354 (Miss. 1998). See also Jenkins v. Ohio Cas. Ins. Co., 794 So.2d 228, 232 (Miss.2001); Russell v. Orr, 700 So.2d 619, 622 (Miss. 1997); Richmond v. Benchmark Constr. Corp., 692 So.2d 60, 61 (Miss.1997); Northern Elec. Co. v. Phillips, 660 So.2d 1278, 1281 (Miss.1995). Rule 56(c) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment shall be granted by a court if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact M.R.C.P. 56(c); see Saucier, 708 So.2d at 1354. The moving party has the burden of demonstrating there is no genuine issue of material fact while the non-moving party should be given the benefit of every reasonable doubt. Tucker v. Hinds County, 558 So.2d 869, 872 (Miss.1990). See also Heigle v. Heigle, 771 So.2d 341, 345 (Miss.2000). A fact is material if it tends to resolve any of the issues properly raised by the parties. Palmer v. Anderson Infirmary Benevolent Ass'n, 656 So.2d 790, 794 (Miss.1995). If, in this view, there is no genuine issue of material fact and, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, summary judgment should forthwith be entered in his favor. Otherwise, the motion should be denied. Williamson ex rel. Williamson v. Keith, 786 So.2d 390, 393 (Miss.2001). Issues of fact sufficient to require denial of a motion for summary judgment obviously are present where one party swears to one version of the matter in issue and another says the opposite. Tucker, 558 So.2d at 872. Of importance here is the language of the rule authorizing summary judgment `where there is no genuine issue of material fact.' The presence of fact issues in the record does not per se entitle a party to avoid summary judgment. The court must be convinced that the factual issue is a material one, one that matters in an outcome determinative sense . . . the existence of a hundred contested issues of fact will not thwart summary judgment where there is no genuine dispute regarding the material issues of fact. Simmons v. Thompson Mach. of Miss., Inc., 631 So.2d 798, 801 (Miss.1994)(citing Shaw v. Burchfield, 481 So.2d 247, 252 (Miss. 1985)). The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Russell, 700 So.2d at 622; Richmond, 692 So.2d at 61; Northern Elec. Co., 660 So.2d at 1281; Simmons, 631 So.2d at 802; Tucker, 558 So.2d at 872. To avoid summary judgment, the non-moving party must establish a genuine issue of material fact within the means allowable under the Rule. Richmond, 692 So.2d at 61 (citing Lyle v. Mladinich, 584 So.2d 397, 398 (Miss.1991)). If any triable issues of fact exist, the lower court's decision to grant summary judgment will be reversed. Otherwise the decision is affirmed. Richmond, 692 So.2d at 61. Much of the Defendants' argument parallels the reasoning on the standing issue previously addressed by this Court. The Defendants assert that (1) Price's appointment as administratrix of the Estate was void ab initio, (2) they raised the issue of capacity or authority to sue in their answers pursuant to M.R.C.P. 9, and (3) Price failed to prove that she has capacity to maintain the action because (a) her appointment in Tallahatchie County as administratrix was void as a matter of law for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and (b) Price was a first cousin once removed of Boles, therefore, she was not a statutory wrongful death beneficiary with individual capacity to bring suit. ¶ 45. In fact there are no statutory wrongful death beneficiaries of Boles, the Estate is the only plaintiff. Further, the Defendants assert that the Estate subjected itself to the jurisdiction and subsequent scrutiny of Leflore County by filing the lawsuit. The Defendants also assert that if the Estate is void because the Tallahatchie County Chancery Court lacked jurisdiction to open an estate or appoint Price as administratrix, then there is no plaintiff and the lawsuit must be dismissed. [4] ¶ 46. The Estate maintains that the Defendants cannot challenge the chancery court's actions regardless of whether they assert the claim in chancery or circuit court as they cannot attack the creation of the Estate and they lack standing. Much of the Estate's argument has been addressed in the standing and residence issues above and will not be reiterated here. ¶ 47. Considering all of the case law mentioned in both parties briefs and discussed in detail in the above issues, we find the trial court erred by not granting the Defendants' motion for summary judgment. The Defendants challenged Price's authority and capacity to maintain the wrongful death action based upon the opening of the Estate and appointment of Price as administratrix as being void ab initio. In their answers, the Defendants raised the issue of capacity of Price to maintain the action. In their motion for summary judgment, the Defendants had a death certificate that showed that Boles died in Leflore County. Greenwood Health was located in Leflore County. An affidavit by Dumas, vice-president of operations at Mariner, stated that Boles was a resident of Greenwood Health from June 1996 until her death on January 25, 2001. Dumas also stated that Boles's place of residence was Greenwood Health, she received mail and Medicaid/Medicare benefits at the nursing facility in Leflore County. The Estate provided no evidence that Boles's was a resident of Tallahatchie County. ¶ 48. We find that the trial court erred by denying the Defendants' motion for summary judgment. The Tallahatchie County Chancery Court had no jurisdiction to open an estate and appoint Price as administratrix. As such, Price did not have the capacity or authority to bring the wrongful death suit in the Circuit Court of Leflore County as an administratrix of the void Estate. Accordingly, the Leflore County Circuit Court erred by denying the Defendants' motion for summary judgment.