Opinion ID: 880331
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The claimant shall mail to the personal

Text: representative return receipt requested a written statement of the claim indicating its basis, the name and address of the claimant, and the amount claimed or may file a written statement of the claim, in the form prescribed by rule, with a clerk of the court. The claim is deemed presented on the first to occur of receipt of the written statement of claimed by the personal representative or the filing of the claim of the court ... Thus it appears, that a claim founded on contract, as in this case, must be presented either to the personal representative, or by filing the same with the court. The filing of a suit outside the probate proceedings, even though within the four month period, does not suffice to properly submit a claim against an estate. Hence, the claim of the Trustees against the Gordon P. ice estate is time-barred. Even so, the Trustees argue that there are due process implications which have not been met in the matter of notice that was followed in the Tice estate. The Trustees rely on Tulsa Professional Collection Services, Inc. v. Pope ~xecutrix of the Estate of H. Everett Pope, Jr. (19881, 108 S.Ct. 1340, U.S. , 99 L.Ed.2d 565. This case involved a provision of Oklahoma's probate laws requiring claims arising upon a contract to be presented to the executor of the estate within two months of the publication of notice to creditors or else be barred. The creditor, a hospital, had rendered medical services to the decedent Pope for about five months. Upon his death, the hospital, through its assignee, Tulsa Professional Collection Services, Inc., had not presented a claim to the executor of the estate within the two months period. Tulsa, relied instead on an Oklahoma statute which provided that the executrix must pay the expenses of the last illness. The Oklahoma trial court ruled that the failure to present the claim within the two month period required a denial of the claim. This result was affirmed in the Oklahoma Court of Appeals and by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma. The latter Court reasoned that the purpose of notice in probate proceedings is not to make a creditor a party to the proceedings, but rather to notify him that he may become one if he wishes. The united States Supreme Court in Tulsa reversed on due process grounds. The Supreme Court determined that the unpaid medical bill was a property interest protected by the Fourteenth Amendment and that under the Fourteenth Amendment the due process clause applied if state action were involved. The Supreme Court further found that the probate proceedings did involve state action, especially since the probate court appointed the executor, and ordered notice to be given to creditors, required that proof of publication be filed with the court, and that claims also be filed with the court within the time period. In such a case, the united States Supreme Court held that a duty of providing actual notice of the probate proceedings and of the necessity to present claims to known creditors, or reasonably ascertainable creditors, was required to satisfy due process. The decision of the United States Supreme in Tulsa is a step-out from earlier cases, Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank and Trust Co. (1950), 339 U.S. 306, 70 S.Ct. 652, 94 L.Ed.2d 865 and Mennonite Board of Missions v. Adams (1983), 462 U.S. 791, 103 S.Ct. 2706, 77 L.Ed.2d 180. In Baker ~ationalBank v. Henderson (1968), 151 Mont. 526, 529, 445 P.2d 574, 576, this Court held that the Mullane doctrine was not applicable to probate proceedings. The provisions of our probate statutes relating to notice by publication to creditors against an estate may under Tulsa have due process implications as far as known creditors or reasonably ascertainable creditors are concerned, but that issue cannot be determined in this case. When the cause was before the District Court here, the issue was decided purely on the statutory provisions which were applicable under the probate code. The issue of due process was not preserved for appeal and is therefore not before us at this time. The contention of the estate of Gordon P. ice that the Trustees' appeal in this case was untimely taken is without foundation. Galleria Partnership having filed a timely notice of appeal in this case on November 8, 1988, the filing of the Trustees' notice of appeal on November 18, 1988, was timely filed. Rule 5 (a)( 3 1 , M.R.App.P.