Opinion ID: 1288637
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jurisdiction of Subject Matter

Text: The second point urged by petitioner as a reason for granting prohibition is that the district court, as a civil court, has no jurisdiction of the subject matter of the count which seeks a declaratory judgment. Apparently it is the theory of petitioner, in urging this point, that the subject matter of the count for declaratory judgment is a probate matter which should be handled and disposed of in the probate court and not in the district court as a civil court. In Church v. Quiner, 31 Wyo. 222, 224 P. 1073, 1074, it was concluded, after a thorough consideration of the matter, that the probate jurisdiction of a district court does not include power to determine the priority of conflicting assignments of an interest in an estate. At 224 P. 1075, the court cited with approval from Martinovich v. Marsicano, 137 Cal. 354, 70 P. 459, to the effect that matters of probate do not include the determination of whether an heir or devisee has conveyed or assigned his share of an estate. It follows a fortiori that if matters of probate do not include a determination of whether an heir or devisee has conveyed or assigned his share of an estate, then matters of probate do not include a determination of whether he has forfeited his share of an estate. On petition for rehearing in In re Stringer's Estate, 80 Wyo. 426, 343 P.2d 508, 345 P.2d 786, 789-790, Justice Harnsberger wrote for this court, specifying matters to be considered in probate. He then added that any right or claim against the estate arising through contract must be asserted in an independent action against the administrator or executor. It is a similar sort of thing when the minor sons of Thomas C. Moore assert a claim to that portion of decedent's estate which was devised to petitioner. They claim not as devisees or legatees under the will, over which the probate court has jurisdiction, but under a statutory right. According to § 2-46, W.S. 1957, if Mrs. Sheehan feloniously took, or caused or procured another so to take the life of Thomas C. Moore, then she is not entitled to inherit from him or take any benefits arising from his death. The statute provides, in such event, that all benefits which would otherwise accrue to her shall become subject to distribution among the other heirs of the deceased according to the rules of descent and distribution. This statute is similar in effect to our wrongful death statute, § 1-1066, W.S. 1957, which provides that the amount received in any such action shall be distributed to the parties and in the proportions provided by law for the distribution of personal estates left by persons dying intestate. It seems clear in wrongful death actions that any amount received for the death does not become a part of the estate of the deceased, and wrongful death actions are civil actions. Tuttle v. Short, 42 Wyo. 1, 288 P. 524, 529, 70 A.L.R. 106. See also Probate Jurisdiction in Wrongful Death Actions by V.J. Tidball, 2 Wyo.L.J. 109. These things considered, we conclude the district court, as a civil court, has jurisdiction of the subject matter of the first count of plaintiffs' complaint pertaining to a declaratory judgment.