Opinion ID: 2011031
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Finality of the Orders

Text: Rule 341 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure defines a final order as one that disposes of all claims and all parties, is defined as such by statute, or is designated as such at the time it is entered by the trial court in order to expedite appellate review. Pa. R.A.P. 341(b) and (c). Rule 342 allows Orphans' Court judges to designate as final (and therefore immediately appealable) an order making a distribution, or determining an interest in realty or personalty or the status of individuals or entities. Pa.R.A.P. 342. It does not require that any particular class of orders be treated as final, but instead leaves the determination of finality of orders not disposing of all claims and all parties up to the Orphans' Court judge. Pa.R.A.P. 342(1). Certification under Rule 342 is wisely left to the discretion of the Orphans' Courts, who are in the best position to take the facts of the case into account when deciding whether an immediate appeal would be appropriate. It is fundamental law in this Commonwealth that an appeal will lie only from final orders, unless otherwise expressly permitted by statute. T.C.R. Realty, Inc. v. Cox, 472 Pa. 331, 372 A.2d 721, 724 (1977). An appeal from an order directing the administrator of a decedent's estate to sell real estate belonging to the decedent is interlocutory and must be quashed. In re Maslowski's Estate, 261 Pa. 484, 104 A. 675 (1918); In re Estate of Habazin, 451 Pa.Super. 421, 679 A.2d 1293 (1996). See also Appeal of Snodgrass, 96 Pa. 420, 421 (1880) (holding that an order directing sale of real estate for payment of decedent's debts is not definitive, and an appeal will not lie therefrom: Why should the proceeding be brought here by piece-meal when the whole may be reviewed on an appeal from the final confirmation?). Appellant argues that if he is not allowed to appeal immediately from the Orphans' Court's orders, the tracts will be sold, his claims regarding the properties will be lost, and therefore the orders should be considered final. It is true that the real estate will no longer be available to Appellant once a sale to another party is accomplished. But Appellant was not bequeathed the tracts themselves. Instead, Appellant is entitled only to a share of the decedent's estate after it has been liquidated. Therefore, his claim that an immediate appeal is necessary to protect his interests fails. Indeed, Appellant has no greater rights with respect to this property than any potential buyer. Moreover, if we accepted Appellant's argument that any claim on or about property that might be sold during the probate process should be immediately appealable, the appellate court system would be flooded with such appeals and the administration of decedents' estates would be unreasonably delayed. Appellant's argument in favor of an immediate appeal focuses on two pieces of realty. Appellant's argument applies with even greater strength to personal property. For example, if a piece of furniture were to be sold at auction and an executor/beneficiary objected to the sale, but was ordered to go through with it by the Orphans' Court, the property could soon be on another continent, well beyond the jurisdiction of our courts. Yet our rules do not permit immediate appeal under such circumstances, unless the Orphans' Court decides its order approving the sale is final pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 342(1). Under appropriate circumstances, a sale of property might be stayed by an immediate appeal authorized by the Orphans' Court, but the court clearly did not certify its order as final in this case. We find no error. A delay in review of the orders in this case will not result in the loss of any right in any of the parties because the real estate is not specifically devised under the will to any person, and the proceeds of sale will remain under the review and control of the Orphans' Court until confirmation of the final account. Habazin, 679 A.2d at 1295. [A]n order is not final and appealable merely because it decides one issue of importance to the parties. Rather, for an order to be final and ripe for appeal, it must resolve all pending issues and constitute a complete disposition of all claims raised by all parties. 3 Partridge-Remick, Practice and Procedure in the Orphans' Court of Pennsylvania § 26.04. Ultimately, the Orphans' Court decides estate cases primarily by distributing property from estates, according to the decedent's wishes or the intestacy statute. The special case where immediate appeal is proper is covered by the terms of Pa. R.A.P. 342(1). [2] Appellant nonetheless seeks a ruling declaring all orders to sell certain types of property as final and immediately appealable. There is no basis in existing law for that ruling, and the weight of policy considerations bears heavily against it as well.